FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
USDA Announces Third Exchange Actions to Address the Domestic Sugar Surplus
WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2013 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced that the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is offering to exchange its recently acquired sugar inventory for credits held by refiners holding licenses under the Refined Sugar Re-export Program. This exchange offer will be administered in a similar manner as the exchange portion of the sugar actions announced by news release on June 17, 2013, and July 23, 2013.
USDA is taking this action based upon the success of the earlier actions that removed 345,712 metric tons of import supply in exchange for 106,742 metric tons of CCC inventory. The earlier actions have resulted in U.S. raw sugar prices approaching Congressionally-mandated sugar price support levels. The purchase of credits held by refiners holding licenses under the Refined Sugar Re-export Program is preferable at this time to other available inventory management options because it minimizes the cost of the sugar program. This exchange will reduce the sugar surplus by more than the CCC sugar exchanged, which will reduce the incidence of future CCC sugar loan collateral forfeitures.
Friday, September 13, 2013
DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY CARTER ARRIVES IN AFGHANISTAN TO ASSESS U.S. DRAWDOWN
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Carter Arrives in Afghanistan to Review Retrograde Progress
By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service
KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 13, 2013 - Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter arrived at the International Security Forces Joint Command Headquarters here today for meetings with senior U.S., NATO and Afghan officials to review the progress of the drawdown.
The Afghanistan retrograde is on schedule to meet the December 2014 deadline, a senior defense official said Sept. 10 during a background briefing for Pentagon reporters. The official added that Carter would use the trip as an opportunity to get a boots-on-the-ground perspective of the retrograde process.
About 24,000 vehicles and 20,000 container equivalent sets are still to be shipped back to the United States, the official said, noting that the movement of material is expected to pick up again following a slowdown for the Muslim observances of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr.
Today, Carter will meet with Army Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, commander of the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command; U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan James Cunningham; Army Maj. Gen. James Richardson, commander of the U.S. National Support Element Command; and Dutch Ambassador Maurits Jochems, NATO's senior civilian representative.
The deputy secretary also will hold a meeting with senior leaders from Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan and NATO Training Mission Afghanistan.
The discussions are intended as an affirmation that things are moving and to ensure that the retrograde process continues to work smoothly, the defense official said.
Carter Arrives in Afghanistan to Review Retrograde Progress
By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service
KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 13, 2013 - Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter arrived at the International Security Forces Joint Command Headquarters here today for meetings with senior U.S., NATO and Afghan officials to review the progress of the drawdown.
The Afghanistan retrograde is on schedule to meet the December 2014 deadline, a senior defense official said Sept. 10 during a background briefing for Pentagon reporters. The official added that Carter would use the trip as an opportunity to get a boots-on-the-ground perspective of the retrograde process.
About 24,000 vehicles and 20,000 container equivalent sets are still to be shipped back to the United States, the official said, noting that the movement of material is expected to pick up again following a slowdown for the Muslim observances of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr.
Today, Carter will meet with Army Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, commander of the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command; U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan James Cunningham; Army Maj. Gen. James Richardson, commander of the U.S. National Support Element Command; and Dutch Ambassador Maurits Jochems, NATO's senior civilian representative.
The deputy secretary also will hold a meeting with senior leaders from Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan and NATO Training Mission Afghanistan.
The discussions are intended as an affirmation that things are moving and to ensure that the retrograde process continues to work smoothly, the defense official said.
JOINT STATEMENT REGARDING SYRIAN TALKS FROM GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Joint Statements After Trilat
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and UN Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi
UN Offices
Geneva, Switzerland
September 13, 2013
SECRETARY KERRY: Let me just say to everybody that we will not – we will each make a very brief statement. We’ll not be taking questions at this time. And we apologize for that, but we need to get back to the conversations that we’re having on the issue of chemical weapons.
First of all, Foreign Minister Lavrov and I both want to thank Lakhdar Brahimi and the United Nations for their invitation to have a discussion today about the question of the Geneva 2 conference. As everybody knows, the principal reason that Foreign Minister Lavrov and I are here are to have discussions with respect to the initiative to gain control of and remove and destroy the chemical weapons in Syria. That is our principal mission here in Geneva. And I think we would both agree that we had constructive conversations regarding that, but those conversations are continuing and both of us want to get back to them now.
We came here this morning at the invitation of the Special Representative for the Geneva 2 and Syria negotiations in order to discuss where those negotiations are and how we can advance them. I will say on behalf of the United States that President Obama is deeply committed to a negotiated solution with respect to Syria, and we know that Russia is likewise. We are working hard to find the common ground to be able to make that happen and we discussed some of the homework that we both need to do. I’m not going to go into it in any detail today. We both agreed to do that homework and meet again in New York around the time of the UN General Assembly, around the 28th, in order to see if it is possible then to find a date for that conference, much of which will obviously depend on the capacity to have success here in the next day, hours, days, on the subject of the chemical weapons.
Both of us – Sergey Lavrov and I, our countries, our presidents – are deeply concerned about the death toll and destruction, the acts on both sides, all sides that are creating more and more refugees, more and more of the humanitarian catastrophe. And we are committed to try to work together, beginning with this initiative on the chemical weapons, in hopes that those efforts could pay off and bring peace and stability to a war-torn part of the world. And we’re very appreciative for Lakhdar Brahimi hosting us today in an effort to try to advance this initiative.
Sergey.
FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, we had a very useful meeting with Lakhdar Brahimi. As you know, as John said just now, we are here basically to discuss the issue of chemical weapons in Syria. Now that the Assad government joined the Chemical Weapons Convention, we have to engage our professionals together with the Chemical Weapons Prohibition Organization, as we agreed with the United Nations, to design a road which would make sure that this issue is resolved quickly, professionally, as soon as practical.
But we are very glad to Lakhdar Brahimi for inviting us on this occasion to discuss a longer-term goal for Syria, namely the preparation for the conference which is called Geneva 2. Russia, the Russian President from very beginning of the Syrian conflict, have been promoting a peaceful resolution. We have firmly supported the Arab League initiative, their being observers, and we supported Kofi Annan’s initiative, the UN observers, and we were one of the initiators of convening Geneva 1. Last year here, we adopted the Geneva communique, resolved major – almost all major players, including all P-5 countries for the region, Arab League, Turkey, European Union, United Nations. And it is very unfortunate that for a long period the Geneva communique was basically abandoned and we were not able to have endorsement of this very important document in the Security Council, as is as adopted.
Thanks to John, who after becoming Secretary of State in spite of his huge workload on Arab-Israeli conflict understood the importance of moving on Syria and doing something about this. And I am very grateful for him for coming to Moscow on May 7th this year when we launched the Russian-American initiative to convene a Geneva conference to implement fully the Geneva communique, which means that the Syrian parties must reach mutual consent on the transitional governing organ which would command full executive authority. And the communique also says that all groups of Syrian society must be represented.
And we discussed these aspects and other aspects of the preparatory work today with Lakhdar Brahimi and his team. We are very grateful to Lakhdar for his insight, for the suggestions which he made and which we will be entertaining as we move forward parallel with the work on chemical weapons. We agreed to meet in New York in the margins of the General Assembly and see where we are and what the Syrian parties think about it and do about it. And we hope that we will be able to be a bit more specific when we meet with you in New York.
SPECIAL ENVOY BRAHIMI: Thank you very much indeed, both of you, first of all, for coming to talk to us in the Palais de Nation in Geneva. We look forward to the work you are doing on chemical weapons in Syria. It is extremely important in itself and for itself, but it is also extremely important for us who are working with you on trying to bring together the Geneva 2 conference successfully.
Our discussions today, as you have both said now, have been useful. And we are not going to retain you much longer; you have other business to do. Thank you again very, very much indeed for being here.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thanks, Lakhdar.
FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, sir.
SPECIAL ENVOY BRAHIMI: Thank you very much.
Joint Statements After Trilat
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and UN Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi
UN Offices
Geneva, Switzerland
September 13, 2013
SECRETARY KERRY: Let me just say to everybody that we will not – we will each make a very brief statement. We’ll not be taking questions at this time. And we apologize for that, but we need to get back to the conversations that we’re having on the issue of chemical weapons.
First of all, Foreign Minister Lavrov and I both want to thank Lakhdar Brahimi and the United Nations for their invitation to have a discussion today about the question of the Geneva 2 conference. As everybody knows, the principal reason that Foreign Minister Lavrov and I are here are to have discussions with respect to the initiative to gain control of and remove and destroy the chemical weapons in Syria. That is our principal mission here in Geneva. And I think we would both agree that we had constructive conversations regarding that, but those conversations are continuing and both of us want to get back to them now.
We came here this morning at the invitation of the Special Representative for the Geneva 2 and Syria negotiations in order to discuss where those negotiations are and how we can advance them. I will say on behalf of the United States that President Obama is deeply committed to a negotiated solution with respect to Syria, and we know that Russia is likewise. We are working hard to find the common ground to be able to make that happen and we discussed some of the homework that we both need to do. I’m not going to go into it in any detail today. We both agreed to do that homework and meet again in New York around the time of the UN General Assembly, around the 28th, in order to see if it is possible then to find a date for that conference, much of which will obviously depend on the capacity to have success here in the next day, hours, days, on the subject of the chemical weapons.
Both of us – Sergey Lavrov and I, our countries, our presidents – are deeply concerned about the death toll and destruction, the acts on both sides, all sides that are creating more and more refugees, more and more of the humanitarian catastrophe. And we are committed to try to work together, beginning with this initiative on the chemical weapons, in hopes that those efforts could pay off and bring peace and stability to a war-torn part of the world. And we’re very appreciative for Lakhdar Brahimi hosting us today in an effort to try to advance this initiative.
Sergey.
FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, we had a very useful meeting with Lakhdar Brahimi. As you know, as John said just now, we are here basically to discuss the issue of chemical weapons in Syria. Now that the Assad government joined the Chemical Weapons Convention, we have to engage our professionals together with the Chemical Weapons Prohibition Organization, as we agreed with the United Nations, to design a road which would make sure that this issue is resolved quickly, professionally, as soon as practical.
But we are very glad to Lakhdar Brahimi for inviting us on this occasion to discuss a longer-term goal for Syria, namely the preparation for the conference which is called Geneva 2. Russia, the Russian President from very beginning of the Syrian conflict, have been promoting a peaceful resolution. We have firmly supported the Arab League initiative, their being observers, and we supported Kofi Annan’s initiative, the UN observers, and we were one of the initiators of convening Geneva 1. Last year here, we adopted the Geneva communique, resolved major – almost all major players, including all P-5 countries for the region, Arab League, Turkey, European Union, United Nations. And it is very unfortunate that for a long period the Geneva communique was basically abandoned and we were not able to have endorsement of this very important document in the Security Council, as is as adopted.
Thanks to John, who after becoming Secretary of State in spite of his huge workload on Arab-Israeli conflict understood the importance of moving on Syria and doing something about this. And I am very grateful for him for coming to Moscow on May 7th this year when we launched the Russian-American initiative to convene a Geneva conference to implement fully the Geneva communique, which means that the Syrian parties must reach mutual consent on the transitional governing organ which would command full executive authority. And the communique also says that all groups of Syrian society must be represented.
And we discussed these aspects and other aspects of the preparatory work today with Lakhdar Brahimi and his team. We are very grateful to Lakhdar for his insight, for the suggestions which he made and which we will be entertaining as we move forward parallel with the work on chemical weapons. We agreed to meet in New York in the margins of the General Assembly and see where we are and what the Syrian parties think about it and do about it. And we hope that we will be able to be a bit more specific when we meet with you in New York.
SPECIAL ENVOY BRAHIMI: Thank you very much indeed, both of you, first of all, for coming to talk to us in the Palais de Nation in Geneva. We look forward to the work you are doing on chemical weapons in Syria. It is extremely important in itself and for itself, but it is also extremely important for us who are working with you on trying to bring together the Geneva 2 conference successfully.
Our discussions today, as you have both said now, have been useful. And we are not going to retain you much longer; you have other business to do. Thank you again very, very much indeed for being here.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thanks, Lakhdar.
FOREIGN MINISTER LAVROV: Thank you.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, sir.
SPECIAL ENVOY BRAHIMI: Thank you very much.
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT FOR WEEK ENDING SEPTEMBER 7, 2013
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR,
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending September 7, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 292,000, a decrease of 31,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 323,000. The 4-week moving average was 321,250, a decrease of 7,500 from the previous week's revised average of 328,750.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.2 percent for the week ending August 31, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending August 31 was 2,871,000, a decrease of 73,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 2,944,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,953,000, a decrease of 24,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 2,977,750.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 228,399 in the week ending September 7, a decrease of 40,250 from the previous week. There were 299,729 initial claims in the comparable week in 2012.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.0 percent during the week ending August 31, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,569,200, a decrease of 174,830 from the preceding week's revised level of 2,744,030. A year earlier, the rate was 2.3 percent and the volume was 2,930,825.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending August 24 was 4,272,741, a decrease of 122,971 from the previous week. There were 5,391,420 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2012.
No state was triggered "on" the Extended Benefits program during the week ending August 24.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,442 in the week ending August 31, an increase of 193 from the prior week. There were 2,188 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 115 from the preceding week.
There were 19,952 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending August 24, a decrease of 879 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 33,285, a decrease of 469 from the prior week.
States reported 1,454,824 persons claiming Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits for the week ending August 24, a decrease of 39,918 from the prior week. There were 2,223,071 persons claiming EUC in the comparable week in 2012. EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending August 31 were in Puerto Rico (4.3), New Jersey (3.6), Connecticut (3.4), Alaska (3.3), Pennsylvania (3.1), New Mexico (3.0), California (2.9), Rhode Island (2.9), Virgin Islands (2.9), and New York (2.8).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending August 31 were in Oregon (+1,085), Pennsylvania (+725), Nebraska (+609), New Jersey (+537), and Kansas (+394), while the largest decreases were in California (-4,988), Nevada (-2,125), New York (-1,259), Georgia (-1,221), and Florida (-884).
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA
In the week ending September 7, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 292,000, a decrease of 31,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 323,000. The 4-week moving average was 321,250, a decrease of 7,500 from the previous week's revised average of 328,750.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.2 percent for the week ending August 31, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending August 31 was 2,871,000, a decrease of 73,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 2,944,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,953,000, a decrease of 24,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 2,977,750.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 228,399 in the week ending September 7, a decrease of 40,250 from the previous week. There were 299,729 initial claims in the comparable week in 2012.
The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.0 percent during the week ending August 31, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,569,200, a decrease of 174,830 from the preceding week's revised level of 2,744,030. A year earlier, the rate was 2.3 percent and the volume was 2,930,825.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending August 24 was 4,272,741, a decrease of 122,971 from the previous week. There were 5,391,420 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2012.
No state was triggered "on" the Extended Benefits program during the week ending August 24.
Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,442 in the week ending August 31, an increase of 193 from the prior week. There were 2,188 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 115 from the preceding week.
There were 19,952 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending August 24, a decrease of 879 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 33,285, a decrease of 469 from the prior week.
States reported 1,454,824 persons claiming Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits for the week ending August 24, a decrease of 39,918 from the prior week. There were 2,223,071 persons claiming EUC in the comparable week in 2012. EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.
The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending August 31 were in Puerto Rico (4.3), New Jersey (3.6), Connecticut (3.4), Alaska (3.3), Pennsylvania (3.1), New Mexico (3.0), California (2.9), Rhode Island (2.9), Virgin Islands (2.9), and New York (2.8).
The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending August 31 were in Oregon (+1,085), Pennsylvania (+725), Nebraska (+609), New Jersey (+537), and Kansas (+394), while the largest decreases were in California (-4,988), Nevada (-2,125), New York (-1,259), Georgia (-1,221), and Florida (-884).
U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL'S REMARKS ON REGIONAL SHALE OIL AND GAS TRANSITIONING
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
World Shale Oil & Gas
Remarks
Robert F. Cekuta
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Energy Resources
Latin America Summit
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Session One: The Bigger Picture
“A Game-Changer for Latin America? Defining the Region’s Shale Potential by Global Comparison”
Good morning. Fellow panelists and distinguished guests, it is a pleasure to be here at the Latin America Summit of the World Shale Series. We are here today to examine the potential impact of gas resources in the region and globally. Unconventional gas, and shale gas in particular, have dramatically changed the energy landscape in the United States, and there is no reason to think that the United States is the only place where this resource can be developed safely and responsibly. This tremendous sea change in accessible energy resources has strong implications not only for our geopolitical relationships and economy, but also for our ability to address shared environmental goals.
I would like to talk a bit about what we have learned and in particular, highlight the political and policy challenges which exist as the United States transitions from being a net importer of energy resources.
Our dialogue this week in Buenos Aires represents one of a number of elements in the ongoing, close cooperation between the United States and Latin America on energy sector issues – whether it is the creation of complimentary energy efficiency standards for appliances throughout North and Central America or the promotion of electrical grid interconnections through the hemispheric Connecting the Americas 2022, we look forward to building strong and long-lasting partnerships in the Americas.
It is extremely appropriate that we are meeting here in Buenos Aires to discuss unconventional oil and gas development in Latin America. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s 2013 World Shale Report notes Argentina has the world’s second-largest estimate of technologically recoverable shale gas resources. Other Latin American countries, such as Mexico, Colombia and Brazil, also hold potentially significant amounts of unconventional hydrocarbon resources. These resources will contribute profoundly to countries' economic growth as well as to world energy supplies and global energy security – if developed in a responsible and environmentally sustainable manner.
Changes At Home
I would like to discuss some of the changes which have propelled the United States into becoming a net exporter of natural gas. Over the past five years there has been a surprising transformation in the energy landscape of the United States. A few years ago, experts projected the United States would have to import approximately 64 percent of our natural gas needs by 2035. However, we have now initially begun to export some LNG, due in no small part to the “shale gas revolution” in the United States. Current projections estimate that unconventional gas – including shale gas, tight gas, and coal-bed methane – could make up more than 75 percent of U.S. natural gas production and that U.S. gas production could reach 33.14 trillion cubic feet in 2040.
Industry in the United States – and some foreign firms – have seen expanding supplies and lower prices as another positive factor for future economic growth in my country. The shale gas boom is attracting interest in industries such as steel, glass, and cement production, supporting the contention of a number of studies that low-priced natural gas can be a feedstock catalyzing a renaissance in American manufacturing, or what European Union Commissioner for Energy, Günther Oettinger called the “re-industrialization of the United States.” Unconventional oil and gas development is currently projected to create, directly or indirectly, almost 2.5 million jobs and add $350 billion to the U.S. GDP by 2015.[1]
The question many people are asking is can the experience of the United States be duplicated elsewhere? We think it can. Technological breakthroughs in horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing have been essential in tapping and developing unconventional gas. But new technology is only one part of this success story.
Producers in the United States are able to capitalize on factors like a well-functioning market, attractive investment frameworks, extensive pipeline networks and other infrastructure, and an experienced and capable workforce from the conventional upstream side of the industry.
We would be remiss in discussing the shale gas revolution if we didn’t also mention the financial requirements and climate necessary for unconventional oil and gas development to flourish. Single unconventional wells can cost twice as much or more than conventional wells. Up-front exploration and initial production costs are high relative to conventional costs, and high depletion rates after initial production require continuing capital expenditures to maintain and increase target levels of shale gas or oil production. An attractive fiscal regime has been essential to the success of unconventional resource development in the United States.
Global Potential for Unconventional Gas and Oil Development
These developments are not confined to the United States, but have significant ripple effects on third party gas markets. We have seen this in terms of LNG from Qatar and Trinidad and Tobago once destined for the United States now going to other markets. As these imported LNG supplies were diverted from the United States and provided European markets with lower priced gas and meaningful competition to more expensive pipeline gas from Russia.
Looking forward, we anticipate that growing global supplies of gas could result in gas prices being de-linked from oil, as has already happened already in the United States. One possible outcome could be further reducing the power of gas transportation monopolies to use natural gas exports as a political lever.
Unconventional resource development is also changing the tenor of our engagement with major energy exporters. A few years ago, our dialogue with OPEC and other major producers was based almost exclusively on our oil import needs as the world’s largest importer. Discussions in international meetings now look at the declining import needs of the Americas, the rising import needs of Asian and non-OECD markets, and the growing number of new oil and gas producers. Patterns in the global energy trade are already changing, and the implications of these changes are important for energy producers and consumers alike.
Other countries have been watching these developments and wondering if they can replicate the U.S. experience. Numerous countries have reached out to the United States and have participated in international meetings on the subject sponsored by academic institutions or international organizations like the International Energy Agency. We welcome these discussions and see it as important to share what we have learned, what we are learning, and the things we wished we had known earlier on.
Challenges to Unconventional Gas and Oil Development
While recognizing the energy security benefits and the economic gains from unconventional gas and oil development in the United States, it is important to also note that there are many challenges as well. It is essential to develop these resources in an environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable manner. For this reason, we have taken an “all of government” approach to working with the range of stakeholders, including Civil Society – citizens groups, academia and non-governmental organizations on best practices. To that end, the Bureau of Energy Resources in the State Department manages the Unconventional Gas Technical Engagement Program (UGTEP), which brings together experts in policy and regulatory affairs from the United States to disseminate best practices based on the lessons learned in the United States over the past 40+ years in the environmental, social, health and safety, and commercial application of unconventional gas development.
Federal, state, and local officials in the United States are paying close attention to protecting water resources. The United States is adhering to or strengthening best practices to address fugitive methane emissions during the production and distribution processes. In tight oil development, gas flaring is a challenge, especially where the gas pipeline infrastructure is scarce. We are also looking at ways to help others reduce flaring just as we are looking to share our experiences and lessons-learned in developing unconventional oil and gas.
These issues are at the forefront of our bilateral and multilateral discussions on unconventional gas development. One way we share our experience under the UGTEP program is through visits to and from the United States, technical workshops addressing the environmental, social, and economic ramifications of unconventional gas development, and regulator training courses. And it is through these implementing mechanisms that we are helping governments implement best practices based on “lessons learned” in the U.S. experience – and allowing them to benefit from that experience by creating their own regulatory frameworks with the hindsight of our experiences in the United States.
Countries must determine how best to meet their energy resource development needs. The United States remains open to sharing what we have learned – the good and the bad experiences – to promote global security of supply and economic growth.
Conclusion
As I close, let me reiterate that there remains a global need for energy to meet the needs of people, industry, and society. Energy is a necessity for people's well-being in addition to a key factor in economic growth. Moreover, we increasingly recognize due to climate change and other factors that we need to focus on sustainability.
The United States is transitioning from being a natural gas importer to an exporter. We are open to sharing our experience with other countries as they seek to develop their unconventional resources, should they want to do so. We look forward to a productive and rewarding collaborative partnership.
Thank you and I am happy to answer any questions you may have.
World Shale Oil & Gas
Remarks
Robert F. Cekuta
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Energy Resources
Latin America Summit
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Session One: The Bigger Picture
“A Game-Changer for Latin America? Defining the Region’s Shale Potential by Global Comparison”
Good morning. Fellow panelists and distinguished guests, it is a pleasure to be here at the Latin America Summit of the World Shale Series. We are here today to examine the potential impact of gas resources in the region and globally. Unconventional gas, and shale gas in particular, have dramatically changed the energy landscape in the United States, and there is no reason to think that the United States is the only place where this resource can be developed safely and responsibly. This tremendous sea change in accessible energy resources has strong implications not only for our geopolitical relationships and economy, but also for our ability to address shared environmental goals.
I would like to talk a bit about what we have learned and in particular, highlight the political and policy challenges which exist as the United States transitions from being a net importer of energy resources.
Our dialogue this week in Buenos Aires represents one of a number of elements in the ongoing, close cooperation between the United States and Latin America on energy sector issues – whether it is the creation of complimentary energy efficiency standards for appliances throughout North and Central America or the promotion of electrical grid interconnections through the hemispheric Connecting the Americas 2022, we look forward to building strong and long-lasting partnerships in the Americas.
It is extremely appropriate that we are meeting here in Buenos Aires to discuss unconventional oil and gas development in Latin America. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s 2013 World Shale Report notes Argentina has the world’s second-largest estimate of technologically recoverable shale gas resources. Other Latin American countries, such as Mexico, Colombia and Brazil, also hold potentially significant amounts of unconventional hydrocarbon resources. These resources will contribute profoundly to countries' economic growth as well as to world energy supplies and global energy security – if developed in a responsible and environmentally sustainable manner.
Changes At Home
I would like to discuss some of the changes which have propelled the United States into becoming a net exporter of natural gas. Over the past five years there has been a surprising transformation in the energy landscape of the United States. A few years ago, experts projected the United States would have to import approximately 64 percent of our natural gas needs by 2035. However, we have now initially begun to export some LNG, due in no small part to the “shale gas revolution” in the United States. Current projections estimate that unconventional gas – including shale gas, tight gas, and coal-bed methane – could make up more than 75 percent of U.S. natural gas production and that U.S. gas production could reach 33.14 trillion cubic feet in 2040.
Industry in the United States – and some foreign firms – have seen expanding supplies and lower prices as another positive factor for future economic growth in my country. The shale gas boom is attracting interest in industries such as steel, glass, and cement production, supporting the contention of a number of studies that low-priced natural gas can be a feedstock catalyzing a renaissance in American manufacturing, or what European Union Commissioner for Energy, Günther Oettinger called the “re-industrialization of the United States.” Unconventional oil and gas development is currently projected to create, directly or indirectly, almost 2.5 million jobs and add $350 billion to the U.S. GDP by 2015.[1]
The question many people are asking is can the experience of the United States be duplicated elsewhere? We think it can. Technological breakthroughs in horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing have been essential in tapping and developing unconventional gas. But new technology is only one part of this success story.
Producers in the United States are able to capitalize on factors like a well-functioning market, attractive investment frameworks, extensive pipeline networks and other infrastructure, and an experienced and capable workforce from the conventional upstream side of the industry.
We would be remiss in discussing the shale gas revolution if we didn’t also mention the financial requirements and climate necessary for unconventional oil and gas development to flourish. Single unconventional wells can cost twice as much or more than conventional wells. Up-front exploration and initial production costs are high relative to conventional costs, and high depletion rates after initial production require continuing capital expenditures to maintain and increase target levels of shale gas or oil production. An attractive fiscal regime has been essential to the success of unconventional resource development in the United States.
Global Potential for Unconventional Gas and Oil Development
These developments are not confined to the United States, but have significant ripple effects on third party gas markets. We have seen this in terms of LNG from Qatar and Trinidad and Tobago once destined for the United States now going to other markets. As these imported LNG supplies were diverted from the United States and provided European markets with lower priced gas and meaningful competition to more expensive pipeline gas from Russia.
Looking forward, we anticipate that growing global supplies of gas could result in gas prices being de-linked from oil, as has already happened already in the United States. One possible outcome could be further reducing the power of gas transportation monopolies to use natural gas exports as a political lever.
Unconventional resource development is also changing the tenor of our engagement with major energy exporters. A few years ago, our dialogue with OPEC and other major producers was based almost exclusively on our oil import needs as the world’s largest importer. Discussions in international meetings now look at the declining import needs of the Americas, the rising import needs of Asian and non-OECD markets, and the growing number of new oil and gas producers. Patterns in the global energy trade are already changing, and the implications of these changes are important for energy producers and consumers alike.
Other countries have been watching these developments and wondering if they can replicate the U.S. experience. Numerous countries have reached out to the United States and have participated in international meetings on the subject sponsored by academic institutions or international organizations like the International Energy Agency. We welcome these discussions and see it as important to share what we have learned, what we are learning, and the things we wished we had known earlier on.
Challenges to Unconventional Gas and Oil Development
While recognizing the energy security benefits and the economic gains from unconventional gas and oil development in the United States, it is important to also note that there are many challenges as well. It is essential to develop these resources in an environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable manner. For this reason, we have taken an “all of government” approach to working with the range of stakeholders, including Civil Society – citizens groups, academia and non-governmental organizations on best practices. To that end, the Bureau of Energy Resources in the State Department manages the Unconventional Gas Technical Engagement Program (UGTEP), which brings together experts in policy and regulatory affairs from the United States to disseminate best practices based on the lessons learned in the United States over the past 40+ years in the environmental, social, health and safety, and commercial application of unconventional gas development.
Federal, state, and local officials in the United States are paying close attention to protecting water resources. The United States is adhering to or strengthening best practices to address fugitive methane emissions during the production and distribution processes. In tight oil development, gas flaring is a challenge, especially where the gas pipeline infrastructure is scarce. We are also looking at ways to help others reduce flaring just as we are looking to share our experiences and lessons-learned in developing unconventional oil and gas.
These issues are at the forefront of our bilateral and multilateral discussions on unconventional gas development. One way we share our experience under the UGTEP program is through visits to and from the United States, technical workshops addressing the environmental, social, and economic ramifications of unconventional gas development, and regulator training courses. And it is through these implementing mechanisms that we are helping governments implement best practices based on “lessons learned” in the U.S. experience – and allowing them to benefit from that experience by creating their own regulatory frameworks with the hindsight of our experiences in the United States.
Countries must determine how best to meet their energy resource development needs. The United States remains open to sharing what we have learned – the good and the bad experiences – to promote global security of supply and economic growth.
Conclusion
As I close, let me reiterate that there remains a global need for energy to meet the needs of people, industry, and society. Energy is a necessity for people's well-being in addition to a key factor in economic growth. Moreover, we increasingly recognize due to climate change and other factors that we need to focus on sustainability.
The United States is transitioning from being a natural gas importer to an exporter. We are open to sharing our experience with other countries as they seek to develop their unconventional resources, should they want to do so. We look forward to a productive and rewarding collaborative partnership.
Thank you and I am happy to answer any questions you may have.
COMMUNITY IT ENTERPRISE MILESTONE TO IMPROVE INFORMATION SHARING
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Intel Officials Announce Community IT Enterprise Milestone
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 11, 2013 - Eighteen months after the director of national intelligence announced plans for a new information technology environment that would vastly improve information sharing across the intelligence community, a milestone has set the community on the path to its IT future.
James R. Clapper was talking about the future at that 2011 U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation symposium in Texas, Al Tarasiuk told reporters during a recent briefing, and the Intelligence Community Information Technology Enterprise, or IC ITE -- which nearly everyone at the office of the director of national intelligence pronounces "i cite" -- was part of the discussion.
Tarasiuk, intelligence community chief information officer and assistant director of national intelligence, said that at the time, consolidating IT across the community was driven by budget considerations. But today, he added, it's more than an efficiency play on IT.
"We laid out the vision for IC ITE very much focused on improving intelligence integration across the community," the CIO said. "Basically, the vision statement says [it] enables intelligence integration, information sharing and safeguarding, as well as driving to a more efficient IT model for the community."
Translating those factors into goals produces effectiveness, security and efficiency, Tarasiuk added.
"In the past, these were mutually exclusive, but ... we believe that cloud technologies, the price points that we can obtain today [and] some of the developments that we have invested in ... will allow us to ... address all three at the same time," he said.
Around Aug. 16, Tarasiuk said, the ODNI declared a milestone they call the initial baseline for IC ITE. The first step in deploying IC ITE across the intel community began with giving a few thousand users at the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency a common software desktop.
"We are moving toward a single desktop for the community," Tarasiuk said, "so instead of every agency building their own software desktop, which they do today, we will build one for use by all. They will have common collaboration services, and people will be able to use common email and those kinds of things."
The desktop is being produced by NGA and DIA as partners, he said, part of a new business model for ODNI called a service-provider-based business architecture.
As part of the new IC ITE architecture, Tarasiuk explained, the big five agencies -- NGA, DIA, Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency and National Reconnaissance Office -- alone or as partners, "become the providers of certain ... services that we designated as part of this overall architecture."
The CIO said the IC ITE work leverages investments made by the agencies and much of the work already accomplished by the four combat-support agencies -- NSA, DIA, NGA and NRO.
"They were heading toward consolidation of various pieces of IT infrastructure already prior to us starting down the path of IC ITE," he said, so they had done legwork on a common desktop and had begun planning on network consolidation.
The CIA and NSA are partners on another part of the IC ITE, the IC cloud, which Tarasiuk says consists of the lower layers of IT -- bare-metal hosting, analytics as part of that hosting, and virtual and storage capabilities.
"The IC cloud is not something that's going to be out on the Internet," he said. "It's privately hosted inside the intelligence community according to our security standards and under our security watch."
Tarasiuk said the cloud capabilities are available to the initial DIA and NGA desktop users, but also to legacy users.
"Everyone in the community, everyone who's connected up to the TS/SCI networks within agencies across the community, can access the capabilities on IC ITE right now," he said.
Another service that came online in August, provided and managed by NSA, is an applications mall for the intelligence community, the CIO said.
"The idea here is to begin to rationalize the number of applications across the community that might be redundant or that may be needed," he said, adding that the initial architecture for the mall will be based on a customizable open-source Web application called the Ozone Widget Framework.
The NRO will provide the IC ITE network requirements and engineering service, Tarasiuk said.
"They're not going to provision networks," he added, "but they're going to look at how we connect both our local area networks and our wide area networks and try to find a more efficient model, one that actually improves our effectiveness as well."
In the coming year, Tarasiuk said, the CIO's office will work to ensure the resilience of the first several thousand uses of the common desktops and other infrastructure services "to make sure that we can move more production capabilities into it."
"Then," he added, "we will scale beyond what we have right now -- scale the number of desktops, scale the amount of data that's in the cloud."
New services also will be brought in, he said, including security monitoring, and a central service will be established to monitor end-to-end security of IC ITE.
"The beauty of what we're doing is enforcing an IC standard for all data objects that go in the cloud," Tarasiuk added. "Today, agencies comply with security standards, but they implement them in different ways. This is where we believe we can improve information sharing over time."
Based on the way data was originally implemented, an analyst in one agency may not be able to access certain data sets from another agency, the CIO explained. "What we're trying to do from an infrastructure perspective is remove roadblocks that prevent that kind of sharing," he said. "That's the big benefit of moving the data. It's not all going to be in one place, but from a virtual perspective it will be interconnected to the same standards and formats so the automated engines can determine whether a user can see the data or not."
Tarasiuk also stays in touch with the Defense Department's CIO, Theresa M. Takai, who for the defense secretary, the nation's warfighters and many others ensures the delivery of such IT-based capabilities through the Joint Information Environment to support the range of DOD missions.
The need for more effectiveness, security and efficiency isn't unique to the intelligence community, and DOD is transitioning in a first-phase implementation of the JIE -- a single, secure, reliable and agile command, control, communications, and computing enterprise information environment -- that spans fiscal years 2013 and 2014.
Tarasiuk says the relationship between IC ITE and JIE is still being defined in terms of what services the enterprises can leverage from each other.
"Teri Takai and I are pretty close partners in trying to ensure three important elements that are critical to the IC and the DOD communities -- interoperability of standards and identities, and then the cross-domain capabilities," he said.
"We chair joint committees," he added, "and we have people working on committees to ensure that we can move information back and forth and we can understand who's seeing information, so that's enabled."
The CIO said the piece that's still being defined is where services can be leveraged.
For instance, he said, "we don't plan on a wide scale to produce a secret domain infrastructure. We are very much focused on TS/SCI domain only, and that's where our ... priority is.
DOD has substantial capabilities already in that space, Tarasiuk added, and the ODNI CIO is exploring that and the unclassified level as potential places to leverage services.
"That's what we're currently working on," he said, "trying to figure out where we can point requirements to JIE or JIE point requirements to us when it comes to the TS/SCI space."
Intel Officials Announce Community IT Enterprise Milestone
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 11, 2013 - Eighteen months after the director of national intelligence announced plans for a new information technology environment that would vastly improve information sharing across the intelligence community, a milestone has set the community on the path to its IT future.
James R. Clapper was talking about the future at that 2011 U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation symposium in Texas, Al Tarasiuk told reporters during a recent briefing, and the Intelligence Community Information Technology Enterprise, or IC ITE -- which nearly everyone at the office of the director of national intelligence pronounces "i cite" -- was part of the discussion.
Tarasiuk, intelligence community chief information officer and assistant director of national intelligence, said that at the time, consolidating IT across the community was driven by budget considerations. But today, he added, it's more than an efficiency play on IT.
"We laid out the vision for IC ITE very much focused on improving intelligence integration across the community," the CIO said. "Basically, the vision statement says [it] enables intelligence integration, information sharing and safeguarding, as well as driving to a more efficient IT model for the community."
Translating those factors into goals produces effectiveness, security and efficiency, Tarasiuk added.
"In the past, these were mutually exclusive, but ... we believe that cloud technologies, the price points that we can obtain today [and] some of the developments that we have invested in ... will allow us to ... address all three at the same time," he said.
Around Aug. 16, Tarasiuk said, the ODNI declared a milestone they call the initial baseline for IC ITE. The first step in deploying IC ITE across the intel community began with giving a few thousand users at the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency a common software desktop.
"We are moving toward a single desktop for the community," Tarasiuk said, "so instead of every agency building their own software desktop, which they do today, we will build one for use by all. They will have common collaboration services, and people will be able to use common email and those kinds of things."
The desktop is being produced by NGA and DIA as partners, he said, part of a new business model for ODNI called a service-provider-based business architecture.
As part of the new IC ITE architecture, Tarasiuk explained, the big five agencies -- NGA, DIA, Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency and National Reconnaissance Office -- alone or as partners, "become the providers of certain ... services that we designated as part of this overall architecture."
The CIO said the IC ITE work leverages investments made by the agencies and much of the work already accomplished by the four combat-support agencies -- NSA, DIA, NGA and NRO.
"They were heading toward consolidation of various pieces of IT infrastructure already prior to us starting down the path of IC ITE," he said, so they had done legwork on a common desktop and had begun planning on network consolidation.
The CIA and NSA are partners on another part of the IC ITE, the IC cloud, which Tarasiuk says consists of the lower layers of IT -- bare-metal hosting, analytics as part of that hosting, and virtual and storage capabilities.
"The IC cloud is not something that's going to be out on the Internet," he said. "It's privately hosted inside the intelligence community according to our security standards and under our security watch."
Tarasiuk said the cloud capabilities are available to the initial DIA and NGA desktop users, but also to legacy users.
"Everyone in the community, everyone who's connected up to the TS/SCI networks within agencies across the community, can access the capabilities on IC ITE right now," he said.
Another service that came online in August, provided and managed by NSA, is an applications mall for the intelligence community, the CIO said.
"The idea here is to begin to rationalize the number of applications across the community that might be redundant or that may be needed," he said, adding that the initial architecture for the mall will be based on a customizable open-source Web application called the Ozone Widget Framework.
The NRO will provide the IC ITE network requirements and engineering service, Tarasiuk said.
"They're not going to provision networks," he added, "but they're going to look at how we connect both our local area networks and our wide area networks and try to find a more efficient model, one that actually improves our effectiveness as well."
In the coming year, Tarasiuk said, the CIO's office will work to ensure the resilience of the first several thousand uses of the common desktops and other infrastructure services "to make sure that we can move more production capabilities into it."
"Then," he added, "we will scale beyond what we have right now -- scale the number of desktops, scale the amount of data that's in the cloud."
New services also will be brought in, he said, including security monitoring, and a central service will be established to monitor end-to-end security of IC ITE.
"The beauty of what we're doing is enforcing an IC standard for all data objects that go in the cloud," Tarasiuk added. "Today, agencies comply with security standards, but they implement them in different ways. This is where we believe we can improve information sharing over time."
Based on the way data was originally implemented, an analyst in one agency may not be able to access certain data sets from another agency, the CIO explained. "What we're trying to do from an infrastructure perspective is remove roadblocks that prevent that kind of sharing," he said. "That's the big benefit of moving the data. It's not all going to be in one place, but from a virtual perspective it will be interconnected to the same standards and formats so the automated engines can determine whether a user can see the data or not."
Tarasiuk also stays in touch with the Defense Department's CIO, Theresa M. Takai, who for the defense secretary, the nation's warfighters and many others ensures the delivery of such IT-based capabilities through the Joint Information Environment to support the range of DOD missions.
The need for more effectiveness, security and efficiency isn't unique to the intelligence community, and DOD is transitioning in a first-phase implementation of the JIE -- a single, secure, reliable and agile command, control, communications, and computing enterprise information environment -- that spans fiscal years 2013 and 2014.
Tarasiuk says the relationship between IC ITE and JIE is still being defined in terms of what services the enterprises can leverage from each other.
"Teri Takai and I are pretty close partners in trying to ensure three important elements that are critical to the IC and the DOD communities -- interoperability of standards and identities, and then the cross-domain capabilities," he said.
"We chair joint committees," he added, "and we have people working on committees to ensure that we can move information back and forth and we can understand who's seeing information, so that's enabled."
The CIO said the piece that's still being defined is where services can be leveraged.
For instance, he said, "we don't plan on a wide scale to produce a secret domain infrastructure. We are very much focused on TS/SCI domain only, and that's where our ... priority is.
DOD has substantial capabilities already in that space, Tarasiuk added, and the ODNI CIO is exploring that and the unclassified level as potential places to leverage services.
"That's what we're currently working on," he said, "trying to figure out where we can point requirements to JIE or JIE point requirements to us when it comes to the TS/SCI space."
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)