U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

65–579 CC WASHINGTON : 2000

AFRICA’S ENERGY POTENTIAL

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2000

Serial No. 106–121

Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/international relations

(II)

COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York, Chairman

WILLIAM F. GOODLING, Pennsylvania

JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa

HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois

DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey

DAN BURTON, Indiana

ELTON GALLEGLY, California

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida

CASS BALLENGER, North Carolina

DANA ROHRABACHER, California

DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California

PETER T. KING, New York

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio

MARSHALL ‘‘MARK’’ SANFORD, South

Carolina

MATT SALMON, Arizona

TOM CAMPBELL, California

JOHN M. MCHUGH, New York

BILL LUTHER, Minnesota

LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina

ROY BLUNT, Missouri

KEVIN BRADY, Texas

RICHARD BURR, North Carolina

PAUL E. GILLMOR, Ohio

GEORGE P. RADANOVICH, California

JOHN COOKSEY, Louisiana

THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado

SAM GEJDENSON, Connecticut

TOM LANTOS, California

HOWARD L. BERMAN, California

GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York

ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American

Samoa

MATTHEW G. MARTINEZ, California

DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey

ROBERT E. ANDREWS, New Jersey

ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey

SHERROD BROWN, Ohio

CYNTHIA A. MCKINNEY, Georgia

ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida

PAT DANNER, Missouri

EARL F. HILLIARD, Alabama

BRAD SHERMAN, California

ROBERT WEXLER, Florida

STEVEN R. ROTHMAN, New Jersey

JIM DAVIS, Florida

EARL POMEROY, North Dakota

WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT, Massachusetts

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York

BARBARA LEE, California

JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York

JOSEPH M. HOEFFEL, Pennsylvania

RICHARD J. GARON, Chief of Staff

KATHLEEN BERTELSEN MOAZED, Democratic Chief of Staff

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman

AMO HOUGHTON, New York

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio

TOM CAMPBELL, California

GEORGE RADANOVICH, California

THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado

DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey

ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York

BARBARA LEE, California

TOM SHEEHY, Subcommittee Staff Director

MALIK M. CHAKA, Professional Staff Member

CHARISSE GLASSMAN, Democratic Professional Staff Member

CHARMAINE V. HOUSEMAN, Staff Associate

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C O N T E N T S

Page

WITNESSES

Calvin Humphrey, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, U.S.

Department of Energy ......................................................................................... 5

J. Robinson West, Chairman, The Petroleum Finance Company ........................ 18

APPENDIX

Prepared statements:

Chairman Edward Royce ........................................................................................ 28

Calvin Humphrey .................................................................................................... 30

J. Robinson West ..................................................................................................... 38

Submissions:

Statement from Chevron Corporation .................................................................... 84

Fact Sheet on Sudan ............................................................................................... 99

Statement of Paul Michael Wihbey ........................................................................ 102

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AFRICA’S ENERGY POTENTIAL

Thursday, March 16, 2000

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA

COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

WASHINGTON, D.C.

The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2 p.m., in room

2200 Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Edward R. Royce,

(Chairman of the Subcommittee) presiding.

Mr. ROYCE. This hearing of the Subcommittee on Africa will

come to order. Today the Subcommittee will look at the development and use of energy resources in Africa. This is an important

issue.

In order to improve the lives of their citizens, African nations

need to develop affordable energy that is reliable and is environmentally friendly. Some African countries are major exporters of

energy resources which brings them significant political and economic challenges.

The democratically elected Nigerian government of President

Obasanjo, for example, is facing a very difficult challenge posed by

Nigeria’s production of over 2 million barrels of oil a day. To succeed with Nigeria’s national revival, President Obasanjo must address legitimate grievances over revenue sharing and environmental polices—grievances ignored by the previous military regime—while rejecting the small element of radicals in the oil-rich

Delta region who are committed to violence and destruction and

who have halted production on several occasions.

Foreign oil and gas companies face their own task of being part

of the solution in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa. Energy development can also raise diplomatic questions. Many Americans are concerned that a Canadian oil company is helping Sudan’s National Islamic Front regime to develop that warn-torn country’s oil sector.

Energy revenue can be less than a blessing economy-wise. Academic studies suggest that an oil boom leads to a weaker performance in other sectors of an economy. Once a government feels flush,

the pressure to reform is relieved and the non-energy sectors of the

economy wither. This is largely in the past been the Nigerian experience. New offshore production doubled Equatorial Guinea’s GDP

overnight. This small country just now successfully manage this

boom. Other Africa countries confront similar economic and political challenges.

Resource management issues are all the more pressing because

Africa is developing an increasing amount of its energy resources.

With technology allowing for ever deeper offshore drilling, West AfVerDate 11-MAY-2000 11:55 Aug 01, 2000 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 65579.TXT HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1
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rica is now considered to be one of the world’s top regions for petroleum prospects. An American oil company recently made a billion

barrel discovery off the Nigerian coast. Another company has announced a $8.5 billion investment in Nigeria, which is the largest

industrial investment in the history of the continent. Meanwhile,

interest in oil exploration is spreading to East Africa.

Africa has more than petroleum though. Some 17 African countries hold potential as major natural gas producers. A liquefied natural gas plant off the Nigerian coast recently came on line. This is

one of the biggest industrial projects in Africa. In the works for Nigeria is another project to supply natural gas to Ghana, Benin and

Togo. Natural gas is increasingly seen as the energy of the future,

being cleaner and cheaper than other energy resources. Developing

Africa’s natural gas should help African countries overcome their

heavy dependence on the environmentally destructive practice of

burning wood to produce energy. Africa’s hydroelectric potential is

nearly limitless. Congo alone has the potential to light up half the

continent.

The U.S. has a significant interest in Africa’s energy development. Our country would be better off if African countries developed their economies while protecting the environment. We have

an interest in seeing that energy resources do not fuel African conflicts and we are major consumers of African produced oil, some 15

percent of America’s oil imports are from Africa. Given Africa’s potential, this figure promises to grow. Analysts suggest that West

Africa could soon rival the Persian Gulf in terms of strategic significance to America.

The U.S. has an obvious interest in greater oil exploration and

development in Africa, especially in light of the recent hike in

prices Americans are paying at the pump. This interest gives us

even more reason to be attentive to Africa’s many energy challenges. Today the Subcommittee will hear from the U.S. Department of Energy which is spearheading U.S. Government energy efforts in Africa, and a private witness, who will share his views on

energy issues in Africa.[The statement of Mr. Royce appears in the

appendix.]

Mr. ROYCE. I will now turn to the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, Mr. Donald Payne of New Jersey for an opening statement.

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Let me commend you for calling this very important hearing at a time when

we know that this is an issue, the question of energy, throughout

this country and the world. We in the northwest suffered tremendously because of the home heating fuel problem in addition to the

gasoline problem. The fact that the northeast has very little natural gas pipelines and so it certainly hit my congressional district

and my State extremely hard.

But I am pleased to join you here to explore Africa’s potential

and to see what can be done in order to spur this along. As we all

know, Africa has a tremendous amount of natural resources, both

in oil and natural gas and other potential energy resources and we

would like to explore what is going on there.

We all are concerned about the cost of gasoline. We are seeing

prices go as high as $2.00 to $2.25 a gallon. This is the sharpest

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increase in prices over a 2-week period that we have seen in this

country since the Persian Gulf War in 1990.

The full International Relations Committee convened a hearing

on February 10th to discuss the energy crisis with representatives

from the State and Energy Departments. At that time administrative witnesses indicated that there was little that the United States

could do to convince the major oil producing nations to increase the

international supply of oil.

I know that Secretary Richardson recently returned from a trip

to major oil producing nations in which he urged OPEC members

to raise production levels. We know that Secretary Richardson has

been doing an outstanding job, although he is taking a lot of criticism for OPEC’s behavior and I do not know how we can blame

him for what the Saudis and the Kuwaitis are doing, but you have

got to blame someone in the Administration, so I guess he is the

target right now.

We really need to exert pressure to see if we can break this

stranglehold that we currently see. According to the President of

OPEC, his Excellency Attiah, OPEC produces 40 percent of the

world’s reserves and in this era of rising oil prices and legislative

efforts to pressure the Saudis and others, we need to seek alternative solutions. In addition to other means of energy, we ought to

look at how can we expand the potential of the Africa markets

where I think trade and investment has sorely lacked as relates to

our country’s position and I would like to see that as another alternative for additional oil production.

It will be interesting in finding out what role African oil exporters play in setting world oil prices, not just Nigeria, but the other

sub-Saharan African countries in the oil cartel, countries like Angola and Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

Today, the U.S. imports an average of 736,000 barrels today of

Nigerian oil or close to 10 percent of the total United States imports and I understand that Angola is not too far behind. If we

could substantially increase Africa’s production, we could see that

the United States could move up to 25 to 30 percent of our oil dependency being on Africa, therefore reducing the cartel, OPEC cartel’s control and moving into Mexico and Venezuela could possibly

offset the dependency.

Let me say that we are working very hard to insure the passage

of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act. This bill will provide additional incentives for U.S. businesses to tap into Africa’s rich oil

and natural gas reserves and also to develop its energy infrastructure.

On the international front I am eager to hear from witnesses

about the—the representative Humphrey about how the Chad,

Cameroon and Benin pipeline project is going and where the proposed pipeline for natural gas which currently has been flared, creating in Nigeria, creating environmental havoc and where the proposed pipeline for natural gas stands at this time.

We would also like to conclude by saying that we are certainly

concerned about the continuing problems in the Niger Delta the

Chairman mentioned which produces most of Nigeria’s 2 million

gallons of crude a day. When we visited with President Obasanjo

in December, not only did we discuss problems in Nigeria and comVerDate 11-MAY-2000 11:55 Aug 01, 2000 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 65579.TXT HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1
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mending them for other things like ECOWAS troops helping Sierra

Leone and Liberia, but we also talked about the role of the Nigerian government and how the problem in the Delta region can be

resolved.

So once again, Mr. Chairman, I look forward to the testimony of

our witnesses.

Mr. ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Payne. Mr. Campbell?

Mr. CAMPBELL. Mr. Chairman, in the interest of getting to the

witnesses I will simply say thank you for your conscientiousness in

holding the hearing. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. ROYCE. Thank you, Mr. Campbell.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee made a trip to Nigeria a few

months ago, met with an important delegation there on environmental issues and I believe they are here and if I could turn it over

to you at this time.

Ms. LEE. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Let me just say thank you very much and Mr. Payne for your

leadership on this issue. Africa’s energy potential really is a matter

that I do not believe has received significant and sufficient congressional attention and so this hearing is very important today. It is

very timely in light of the issues that we are dealing with in this

country which Mr. Payne spoke of.

Let me say how excited we are to see the Minister from Nigeria

here. We did have the privilege to be in Nigeria and we saw the

great potential now in terms of this transition and we know that

Nigeria is one of our trading partners and we want to hear from

our Administration how our policy toward Nigeria can really help

increase the supply of oil and what we need to do from this Committee, at least, in terms of our policies to insure that this be part

of our U.S. foreign policy as it relates to Africa.

Also, let me just say Mr. Chairman, I want to hear, I guess from

Mr. Humphrey with regard to the whole war in Angola and given

that Angola is really one of our major, primary sources of oil, how

the devastating civil war is really impacting the oil industry there.

Finally, let me just say that as we look at Africa’s energy potential, we also have to be concerned and aware of environmental protections and what the issues are around oil spill cleanup and just

all of the other surrounding issues that hopefully we can help address.

Thank you very much for being here and I look forward to this

hearing and thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your leadership.

Mr. ROYCE. Thank you. Thank you very much. I will just mention that President Obasanjo announced plans to raise oil production 50 percent over the next 4 years in Nigeria and I would like

to ask our delegation to stand at this time, if they would.

If I could ask our guests to stand, Minister of State for Environment, Dr. Ome Oko Pido. He is accompanied by the Chairman of

the House and Senate Committees on the Environment, the Environmental Commissioners for the River State and by Elsa State

and the Secretary General of the Peoples Democratic Party which

won the election last year with the election of their Presidential

candidate, President Obasanjo. If I could ask the whole delegation

to stand at this time.

5

We now turn to our first panel. Calvin R. Humphrey is principal

Assistant Secretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy. Mr. Humphrey has a B.S. degree from Bradley

University, a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center

and he has completed the Senior Executives in National and International Security Program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School. Mr. Humphrey is no stranger to Capitol Hill. He

worked as a legislative assistant to former Congressman Lewis

Stokes of Ohio after completing law school. He then assumed the

position of counsel to the House Permanent Select Committee on

Intelligence. In 1995, Mr. Humphrey was promoted to the position

of Senior Democratic Counsel for the Committee. In his current position which he has held since 1998, Mr. Humphrey is responsible

for advising the Secretary of Energy on international energy affairs.

I thank you for joining us today, Mr. Humphrey.

STATEMENT OF CALVIN HUMPHREY, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT

OF ENERGY

Mr. HUMPHREY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and it is a pleasure

to be before the Committee and let me also thank the Ranking

Member, Mr. Payne and all the Members of the Committee for your

interest in Africa and what the Department of Energy is doing

there. I have submitted a statement for the record and with your

permission, Mr. Chairman, I would like to read an oral statement

that is a synopsis of that complete statement. Thank you.

I am both pleased and honored to appear before you today to discuss the Department of Energy’s strong commitment to promoting

stability and achieving economic growth on the African continent

through sustainable energy development. By promoting sustainable

energy development in Africa, we strive to enhance Africa’s economic and social development, alleviate poverty, improve health

services, increase prosperity and integrate African states into the

world economies.

To demonstrate our commitment, last year Secretary Richardson

launched the African Energy Initiative at Howard University, an

historically black college and university. Under the initiative, the

Department of Energy vigorously engages in bilateral and multilateral efforts to promote sustainable energy development and regional integration. The initiative builds upon President Clinton’s

U.S.-Africa partnership and the blueprint for U.S.-Africa partnership, as you know, was signed in Washington in March 1999 to

promote democracy, good governance, human rights, trade and investment and global integration.

In December 1999, Secretary Richardson hosted the U.S.-Africa

Energy Ministers conference in Tucson, Arizona. The conference

represented the first time that energy ministers from Africa and

the United States convened as a collective body to discuss the future of Africa’s energy sector. The response was overwhelming.

Representatives from 48 countries participated, including 41 energy ministers. They expressed their desire to establish an on-going

process and agreed to meet again in South Africa later this year.

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From the Department’s perspective, we must first and foremost

help African countries develop an economic framework that will attract private sector investment. This includes assisting them in the

development of independent and effective regulatory bodies and

helping them through the restructuring process that must accompany their energy sector development.

Africa is important to us as a key source of diverse energy supply, as a market for energy goods and services, and as a fountain

for investment potential. Moreover, we want to support efforts to

improve the quality of life in Africa and promote political stability.

With a population of approximately 785 million and an annual

growth rate of approximately 20 million, Africa is poised to become

the next important emerging market in terms of trade and investment, energy resources and energy consumption. Energy will fuel

the engine of economic change and sustainable economic development in Africa. It will also promote a wealth of opportunities for

U.S. trade and investment. Africa is the third largest oil exporter

to the United States and plays a critical role in our efforts to diversify oil supply. In 1999, Africa exported approximately 1.5 million

barrels of oil per day to the U.S. or 15 percent of all U.S. imports.

Nigeria, Angola and Algeria were among the largest suppliers.

The development of new infrastructure in the region will allow

for an even greater share of the U.S. market. Africa’s proven oil reserves of 74.9 billion barrels and proven gas reserves of about 400

trillion cubic feet, can enable African countries to increase their importance to the U.S. market while allowing the U.S. to expand and

diversify its oil supplies.

The largest of these reserves are located in Algeria, Nigeria, Angola and Egypt. Oil and gas revenues represent a primary source

of income for many African countries. They account for a large

share of export revenues and foreign exchange earnings. If managed properly, energy sector development can be a powerful force

for fielding the economic development of these countries.

But energy production is just one of the forces for economic development. In 1998, Africa accounted for about 3 percent of the

world’s primary energy consumption. That is, 13 percent of the

world’s population consuming just 3 percent of the world’s primary

energy. Excluding South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria and Libya,

Africa countries use the same amount of energy as Belgium, a

country of only 10 million people.

Clearly, there are huge opportunities for U.S. and African businesses to develop the infrastructure necessary, to increase access to

energy for all of Africa’s people.

Let me take this opportunity to inform you that just today, earlier this morning the Energy Information Administration released

its latest long term forecast for the world. The outlook for Africa

is similar to the numbers described in my written testimony, however, I would note that the forecast indicates that total African energy consumption may go up by 76 percent through the year 2000.

The most significant growth in consumption is expected in natural

gas which could grow 147 percent over the next 20 years.

Several U.S.-based firms have already begun to take advantage

of these opportunities. In May 1999, Chevron announced plans to

invest $12 billion in its Africa operations over the next 5 years. The

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West African gas pipeline is a gas transmission pipeline project designed to connect Nigeria’s gas reserves to markets in Benin, Togo,

and Ghana. I traveled to Benin last year to lend U.S. Government

support to the signing of this historic pipeline agreement. Exxon

Mobil is leading the development of the Chad Export Project, a proposed $3.5 billion project to produce and transmit 250,000 barrels

of oil per day from southern Chad through neighboring Cameroon

to the Atlantic Coast for export to the world and this includes the

United States.

Dallas-based Triton Energy has nearly doubled its investment in Africa to about $200 million with its on-going oil develop in Equatorial Guinea. Ethiopia announced the signing of a $1.4 billion joint

venture deal with the U.S. firm Secore to develop and transport

natural gas. Enron, an oil and gas firm, Houston, Texas, has signed

several joint venture agreements with the States of Abuja and

Lagos in Nigeria for power development. AES is involved in a 250

megawatt hydroelectric project in Uganda. CMS Energy Corporation is working in Ghana on two 110 megawatt thermal power

plants. There are many other examples throughout the continent.

Two key things of the Department’s initiative are achieving support from African nations to encourage private sector investment as

the vehicle for economic growth and to promote growth that supports the global environment, two themes, Mr. Chairman, you mentioned.

At the U.S.-Africa Energy Ministers Conference, we achieved

unanimous support among the ministers on policies and practices

that promote economic development, address environmental concerns, encourage private investment, enhance regional integration

and increase access to energy for Africa’s people. The ministers approved the joint statement on investment principles for the energy

sector to demonstrate their commitment to establishing a transparent and reliable framework that encourages expanded trade and

private sector investment. The ministers also approved a joint

statement on sustainable energy development and cooperation and

support of the environment to highlight important measures that

can be taken in the energy sector to address global climate change

concerns and to promote a sustainable cleaner environment for future generations while at the same time ensuring economic growth.

Bilaterally, the Department has strong programs in many African countries. Our longest running and largest effort is with South

Africa, a program initiated in 1995 under the Gore-Mbeki Binational Commission. We have worked on over 100 joint programs.

These programs include providing the benefits of renewable energy

to rural schools, clinics and homes and offering training to government and business energy experts.

We have begun to expand cooperation with Nigeria. Secretary

Richardson visited Nigeria last August and it resulted in the signing of a bilateral cooperation program. The Department, in coordination with USAID is developing an action plan with the government of Nigeria.

In the context of the Angola Bilateral Consultative Commission

the Department of Energy will work with the Angolan Energy Ministry to streamline its energy sector and facilitate development of

its infrastructure.

8

With Mozambique, we are involved in the U.S. Government effort

to address the recent flood disaster. Department officials traveled

to Mozambique last fall and agreed to send a team to evaluate the

potential for renewable energy. That program becomes even more

important as we revisit the issue of the reconstruction effort.

We know, however, that individual country efforts in a continent

the size of Africa will not be an effective way to reach the many.

We are working hard to support regional integration with efforts

like the West African gas pipeline, the South African power pools

and the West African gas power pool. In this regard, we are building pillars of cooperation with regional organizations such as

ECOWAS, SADC and COMESA. Under the Africa Energy Initiative, the Department works with countries and regional organizations in Africa along with U.S. agencies and organizations such as

USAID, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Export Import Bank to promote sustainable energy development.

We believe energy development in Africa should not only generate export revenues, but must, and I underscore must also respond to internal energy demand and address the issues of sustainable development that benefit all African citizens.

Good corporate citizenship which includes continued investment

in local communities and developing indigenous human infrastructure is an important element that we hope to advance under this

initiative.

Again, I am pleased to be here with you to discuss Africa’s energy potential, U.S. energy policy in Africa. We have an opportunity to build a partnership with African countries that will allow

Africa to realize its energy and economic potential and a sustainable economically sound future for all of its people. We believe this

initiative will help promote sustainable energy development in Africa and lead to a measurable expansion of U.S. energy cooperation

with Africa well beyond the tenure of Secretary Richardson and the

Clinton Administration.

Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member, this concludes my oral statement. I will be happy to answer your questions and we look forward to working with you in a cooperative effort.[The statement of

Mr. Humphrey appears in the appendix.]

Mr. ROYCE. Thank you, Assistant Secretary Humphrey for your

testimony. Let me ask you a few questions. You said last year

about 15 percent of America’s oil imports came from Africa. Do oil

imports in the United States have the potential to increase from

Africa over the next few years in your view?

Mr. HUMPHREY. Absolutely, Mr. Chairman. One of the initiatives

that is part of the Africa Energy Policy is to work closely with a

number of African countries to do a couple of things, No. 1, create

a better private sector investment climate in those countries. To do

that, we have to work with the African countries to develop a regulatory framework, a framework that includes such things as sanctity of contracts, transparency and process, a streamlined bidding

process.

We believe and we have talked with a number of U.S. companies

that these are some of their major concerns. If we can address

these concerns the private sector will go in. They will be able to

9

make a fair judgment on what the risk associated to their investment will be and they will go to Africa.

Mr. ROYCE. Given the importance of African oil to the United

States would it be correct to describe West Africa as strategically

important to the U.S.?

Mr. HUMPHREY. Absolutely, Mr. Chairman. West Africa is definitely strategic. Nigeria is the second largest oil producer in Africa.

They also have tremendous gas potentials. But there are also strategic alliances in South Africa, East Africa, Central and North Africa. We have talked to a number of companies and in our travels

we have found that a number of exploration activities are on-going

in all regions of Africa. So to expand upon your question, I would

say that the African continent is a strategic reason for the United

States to be involved in the energy sector.

Mr. ROYCE. We are going to have to work to make that perception commonplace to have people better understand.

The international community is beginning to normalize relations

with Libya which is a major oil exporter. Do you envision U.S. energy firms operating in Libya in the near future?

Mr. HUMPHREY. As you know, Mr. Chairman, U.S. firms were actively engaged in Libya prior to U.S. sanctions which predate U.N.

sanctions. The U.N. sanctions have been relaxed at this point in

time until after the trial which begins on May 3rd. It is our policy

that we want to see a couple of things from Libya first. First, payment of appropriate compensation. Second, cooperation in the trial

of the Lockerbie defendants. Third, renunciation and an end to the

support of terrorist organizations. If this is done and the State Department really has the lead on this, it will be their judgment that

sanctions would be removed. I can assure you that U.S. companies

will go in to Libya. It is a tremendous opportunity and they want

to go in.

Mr. ROYCE. Let me ask you about the comment that I made earlier about President Obasanjo’s announcement to raise oil production by 50 percent over the next 4 years in Nigeria. As part of

OPEC last year, Nigeria cut production. What are the prospects for

increased production in Nigeria given the political turmoil in the

Delta region? If I could ask you that question and also did nonOPEC member Angola reduce oil production in accord with OPEC’s

decision to cut production last March?

Mr. HUMPHREY. We are aware that President Obasanjo has made

comments of his intent, his desire to increase production by 50 percent. We think that that will be a difficult goal to achieve, but that

begs the question. Certainly, there is an opportunity to increase

production in Nigeria.

You mentioned the problems in the Delta. Secretary Richardson

and I visited Nigeria in August. We had an opportunity to go to

Escarvos there in the Delta and to talk with some of the representatives of the people there in the Delta. Certainly we think that the

government is making progress, is making effort at reconciling

some of those differences.

Two things to increase the production, first, again providing an

effective investment climate. Investors will invest if they have an

investment climate. Notwithstanding the problems in the Delta,

having again transparency, streamline bidding process and sanctity

10

of contracts. Second, a number of the oil produced by Nigeria is offshore. So those can be expanded, but it will require technology and

U.S. companies and other foreign companies and of course, U.S.

companies are second to none and have that technology, but to date

they have been a little resistant to invest wholeheartedly in Africa.

Mr. ROYCE. Let me ask you as part of that. When we were there

for the election in Nigeria one of the big election issues was the

Niger Delta Commission, the concept of putting together a bill to

guarantee a certain amount of revenue to go locally to different

purposes, basically, that would be decided locally.

What is the status of that bill to provide for more dispersed distribution of oil revenues to the States in Nigeria, if I could ask you?

Mr. HUMPHREY. Mr. Chairman, the latest information that I

have is that the differences have been worked out between both

Houses, but there is still some fine tuning of the legislation that

needs to be done.

I might also add that we did talk about that with President

Obasanjo and Secretary Richardson certainly offered his support

for measures that do take into account people of the region and

look toward putting back some of those resources and to the infrastructure and to the human capital of those regions of Nigeria.

Mr. ROYCE. Let me ask you one last question. How badly is the

recent oil spike hitting the economies of the majority of African

states that are not oil exporters, that are in fact oil importers? Is

this a major threat to their development?

Mr. HUMPHREY. Mr. Chairman, it is devastating them. One of

the problems that we see with many of the African countries is

first and foremost most of its citizens do not have the resources to

pay for energy, notwithstanding the oil spikes that we are presently seeing. But because of the oil spikes, those individuals that

had the capability are now experiencing difficulty. This is exacerbating deforestation. People are now going out, cutting down more

trees. This is creating desertification problems, the burning is creating greenhouse gas emissions and it is retarding their development. There is an over dependence on the Federal budget in many

African countries to import oil. Now that those prices have gone up,

they are having to spend even larger portions of their budget for

the oil. So, yes, it is having a devastating impact and if it continues

it will definitely retard the growth of many African nations.

Mr. ROYCE. Thank you, again. Mr. Payne?

Mr. HUMPHREY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you very much, Mr. Humphrey, for your comprehensive testimony. Just the last question highlights the difficulty of dependence on oil as the source of energy. I know that

there is a tremendous amount of potential for hydroelectrical energy. As a matter of fact, there is, I understand, rivers that start

in Angola and go all the way through Africa and up in Mozambique. Along that way it seems that there would be a lot of potential for hydroelectrical power. I heard some statistics years ago that

said that Mozambique could probably provide enough energy for all

of the countries if they had properly built hydroelectric opportunities.

Have you seen any interest on the part of U.S. companies, the

Bechtel types to take a look at the potential of hydroelectrical

11

which, of course, therefore reduces dependence on other forms of

energy?

Mr. HUMPHREY. Thank you, Mr. Payne. Yes, we have. In fact,

just January AES Corporation headquartered right here in Virginia

signed an agreement with the government of Uganda to move forward with a major hydroelectric facility.

We support hydroelectric facilities. One of the concerns we have

is that they are very capital intensive. Additionally, one of the

things that we need to work with our African colleagues on is integration. In the past, we have had a number of hydroelectric plants

built in Africa, but there has become a debt problem for the government. One of the reasons, because there was not regional integration. The amount of power that it is producing is not cost effective

unless you can reach it out and deliver that power beyond the

country’s borders. This is one of the reasons while we are focusing

on regional integration, working with SADC, working with

ECOWAS, working with COMESA so that you maximize the efficiencies.

Additionally, we support hydroelectric plants, but one of the

things that we want to caution about is that we do not want to see

you just going totally to hydroelectric because if a drought comes,

now you have created a real extensive problem. Just as we need

to diversify our sources, we want our African colleagues to diversify

their sources. But hydroelectricity has a tremendous application

and tremendous potential throughout Africa.

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you, as a matter of fact, I think your statement is really on target because I think, Mr. Campbell and I, on

one of our visits to Ghana there was a U.S. aluminum plant, I believe, that built many years a hydroelectrical plant and of course

they got about 80 percent of the energy and the country got the

other 20 percent. But be that as it may the drought then has created a real problem for energy at that point now and I think we

sent several generating barges to that region because of the inability to have sustainable energy.

Energy is so important in trade and in investment. If companies

are going to have computers running, if they are going to have refrigeration for products and all that, there really needs to be that

sustainable energy, dependable energy and the practices, for example, I might ask you this question about Sudan. I have a hundred

of them, but the red light is going to go on in a minute. The Talisman Company is a Canadian based, but Chinese and Malaysian

and we have moved in our State of New Jersey, I did get the State

to divest 850,000 shares. I got a letter from the Governor’s office

just several seeks ago because Talisman’s investment in Sudan,

Sudan supports slavery, bombs its people in the south, uses torture

and other things and are we—what is our policy toward oil from

Sudan and whether it can be segregated out well enough to seek

that we are not involved with it?

Mr. HUMPHREY. Thank you, Mr. Payne. Our sanctions policy toward Sudan dictates that we are to have no trade whatsoever with

Sudan. There are to be no materials, oil, gas. They also have the

capability to produce gas, coming from Sudan to the United States,

nor is there any technologies that would support those industries,

supposed to be coming from the United States going into Sudan.

12

So our sanctions are fairly carte blanche and we would hope that

we are doing an effective job of monitoring to insure that that oil

or that gas coming out of Sudan is No. 1, definitely not making it

into the U.S. markets for the very reasons that you stated.

Mr. PAYNE. Our time is up, but I would just like to just mention

that hopefully the Libyan change could not only for energy, but if

Libya can become a productive country in Africa, as you know

many of the African states have positive relations with Libya.

Sometimes when developments start, can start of our Libya, that

energy can be changed into a positive area, then I think that will

have an impact on sub-Saharan Africa and some of the problems

that it faces.

Iran, there seems to be a changing of a policy and that may also

bring some more oil to the table, but just my last quick question

is that these energy projects are so capital intensive,

hydroelectrical dams, you talk about Chevron, $12 billion, you mentioned somebody else putting $3.5 billion and it is such a large industry that does the Department of Energy have any kind of policy?

I know the Congress has a policy of attempting to encourage our

agencies to use small and disadvantaged businesses and with such

a large capital intensive, it would certainly be difficult for minority

business people to jump in and put bids and proposals out for some

of these potential projects. But does the Energy Department talk

to the Chevrons who incidentally have a bad record anyway in Nigeria under the past regime, maybe they would be interested in

trying to clean up their act. But are there any kind of initiatives

taken by the Department of Energy? I think that the Congress still

would like to encourage diversity. What are you all doing in your

Department?

Mr. HUMPHREY. Mr. Payne, those programs are run out of the

Office of Economic Impact and Diversity. However, I can tell you

first and foremost my personal commitment to ensuring diversity.

There is a mentor protegee program that is operated domestically

where we try to team small disadvantaged businesses in the U.S.

as well as businesses from Africa with some of the major multinational corporations here in the United States. We are committed

to seeing what we can do to take that program internationally, to

see what we can do in working with some of the multinational corporations here in the U.S. teaming them with some of the small

disadvantaged women-owned biosciences so that they can have opportunities in Africa too.

One of the beauties that we see in that is that in many instances

because of the size of some of the countries in Africa, it is not economically feasible for the multi-nationals to go in and invest the

large resources that they have. But for some of the small businesses, it becomes very, very profitable and they have the technology. So we are hoping to expand that program internationally

to take the lessons and the skills that the multinationals have and

see if they will mentor and protegee some of the very, very qualified and very technically sound competent small disadvantaged and

women-owned businesses in the U.S.

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you.

Mr. HUMPHREY. Thank you, Mr. Payne.

13

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Campbell.

Mr. CAMPBELL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding the hearings. Thank you, Secretary Humphrey for your helpful testimony.

I want to ask you about Ethiopia and the Blue Nile. Here is what

I know and I would love to hear encouragement, but I would certainly like to have enlightenment, short of encouragement.

Blue Nile rises from Tata, runs through this deep gorge, then

winds its way, of course, up through the Sudan and eventually

joins the White Nile at Khartoum. Up in Egypt the Nile is dammed

at Aswan and creates this huge shallow lake, Lake Nasser and

evaporation is extreme. If you took the same cubic feet from Lake

Nasser and instead put it behind a dam in the Blue Nile Gorge in

Ethiopia, you would be able to supply Ethiopia with water to guarantee no drought ever again, purely from the evaporation savings,

if you follow me, so that there is no diminution in downstream supply. Now all that is missing is the cost of a dam on the Blue Nile

in Ethiopia. The will of the well to do nations to assist Ethiopia in

doing so. If I have my facts wrong, I stand ready to be corrected.

That is what I said about enlightenment, but I am prepared to be

encouraged to hear from you that this is something the Administration looks with favor upon. How is that for a leading question?

Mr. HUMPHREY. That is a very good leading question. I just hope

I do not strike out on it. No, I cannot provide you any additional

facts that might enlighten you, but let me try to respond this way.

One of the things that we have found that we need to do is educate some of the businesses in the United States about some of the

tremendous opportunities in Africa. One of the things that we do

is we hold a quarterly industry dialogue where we invite representatives from a variety of industries, energy industries, oil, gas, renewable, efficiencies and we dialogue with them and tell them

what we are doing, what opportunities that we see available, places

they may want to look. We also work with our African colleagues

to encourage them to No. 1, put in an investment, friendly climate.

That is central and that is integral.

What we can do is take your idea. We will vet it throughout the

Department. We can certainly discuss this with our Ethiopian colleagues, but also make it known to the private sector what these

opportunities are because there really is a gap.

Mr. CAMPBELL. Let me jump in again, if I may, and I do understand. You are a master of so much. If you just do not have at

present these facts, I would be delighted if you would pursue it. So

that is a perfectly OK answer with me. But from my limited knowledge what is lacking is not the interest of the private sector. What

is lacking is the World Bank willingness to finance it and that is

because the United States is not prepared to back it at the World

Bank and the reason is because nobody bucks Egypt when it comes

to the Nile. So I am putting a fine point on it now. I believe that

the problem is not addressable by the information services much as

I value them and I grant that you are great to be developing them.

The problem is will in this or previous Administrations, Democrat

or Republican, to go to the World Bank and support Ethiopia in

this request.

On that subject, do you have any information?

14

Mr. HUMPHREY. I do not have any information and with your

permission I would like to get back to you.

Mr. CAMPBELL. Would you be so kind. Mr. Chairman, I would

like to use this opportunity to ask Secretary Humphrey to push

this upward in the Energy Department so that maybe there is

some counter pressure to other Departments that might not be as

interested in supporting it. May I make that request?

Mr. ROYCE. You certainly may, Mr. Campbell. Assistant Secretary, if you would respond in writing to Congressman Campbell

that would be most appreciated, the position of the Department.

Mr. CAMPBELL. And I would conclude by saying—I addressed it

in the question of availability of water, but it would fall under your

bailiwick because the hydroelectric potential is magnificent as well,

as you might guess.

The key point that I would make is it is a huge environmental

savings. It is no threat to the downstream water users because of

the tradeoff in evaporation. All that is missing is the courage to

stand in the World Bank, at least in my humble opinion, so thank

you for giving me the chance to put that question to you and if you

send that to our former colleague, Mr. Richardson, I would be delighted to support his efforts in any way.

Mr. HUMPHREY. Will do and we will definitely get back to you.

Mr. ROYCE. Congresswoman Barbara Lee.

Ms. LEE. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and I was very

pleased, Mr. Humphrey to hear you talk about the advocacy which

you have for the mentor protegee minority owned business owned

program.

Let me just ask you with regard to helping minority and women

owned businesses getting established in the energy industry. Many

of our businesses are transitioning from 8A program in one sector

and want to diversify and want to move into other industries and

given the fact that unless you are really teamed with a major oil

company in the energy business you have little likelihood of being

successful. So for those companies does the mentor protegee program specifically address those companies which want to diversify

or are you focusing mainly on those companies, those few companies, really that have the capacity already?

Mr. HUMPHREY. Thank you, Congresswoman. No, we are focusing

on all of the companies. We realize that it would be very, very limited and, quite frankly, arguably the success would be doomed from

the start if we just looked at those small disadvantaged minority,

women owned businesses with energy expertise, because they are

few. But there are a lot of companies out there that have tremendous technical capabilities that are easily transitional to the energy

sector. We have done this truly in the gas sector here domestically.

We have a WAMBE, Woman and Minority Business Enterprise

that they protegee and mentor with multi-national corporations.

We are going to be talking to the multinational corporations about

extending this. As you go into Africa, take some of these small

businesses, take some of these minority businesses, take some of

these women owned businesses, mentor them, be a protegee to

them and let us see what we can do to increase opportunities because as Africa as we developed its energy infrastructure, tremendous commercial opportunities exist. After all, the one common deVerDate 11-MAY-2000 11:55 Aug 01, 2000 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 65579.TXT HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1
15

nominator for every advanced society is a well built energy infrastructure. That is the one common denominator.

Ms. LEE. Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, let me just ask

if it is possible that we could get a little bit more information on

this? I would like to share it with my colleagues, especially those

in the Women’s Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus and

Hispanic Caucus so we can really get a handle on this because it

sounds very exciting to us and we would like to get the word out.

Let me ask you with regard to the war in Angola and Unita. How

is the war affecting the United States from tapping fully into Angola’s oil reserves at this point?

Mr. HUMPHREY. One of the ways that it certainly is affecting the

U.S. and tapping into its complete oil capabilities gets back into the

infrastructure, the business climate, what type of investment climate do you have? Because of the war, a number of investors view

that as a tremendous high risk, that maybe because of the amount

of money that they are willing to invest, the war and the occasional

sabotage that occurs and the loss of life. It is not worth the risk.

What we need to do and what we are doing is we are working

very, very closely with the government. The government, in fact,

has begun to take some initiative. They have agreed to elections,

I believe in 2001. They are making fundamental changes in their

constitution. They are making economic changes. They have agreed

in their budget, in their fiscal budget to begin to look at social programs, to address some of those issues. But in large part, yes, it

is having an impact and until we can bring peace and democracy,

you never will realize its true potential.

More so, we do not know what may exist in some of those territories that are controlled by Unita, that at this point the possibility

of exploration does not exist. So until we can get into those areas,

until we have peace in Angola, it will be difficult for Angola to realize its true potential.

Ms. LEE. What percentage of oil comes from Angola?

Mr. HUMPHREY. I would have to check that.

Ms. LEE. Do you know approximately?

Mr. HUMPHREY. Last year it was 4 percent of the U.S. total imports.

Mr. ROYCE. But in the next 10 years it is expected to anticipate

potentially Nigeria, so it has tremendous potential.

Ms. LEE. You said 4 percent Angola.

Mr. HUMPHREY. At the present time.

Ms. LEE. Present time, OK, but in the next 10 years we expect

it to surpass Nigeria?

Mr. HUMPHREY. Nigeria’s production. So it could be 8 percent.

One of the things is that Nigeria has so much potential in the

gas sector and natural gas is the fastest growing source in the

world and certainly as we indicated with the West Africa gas pipeline, Nigeria is now reducing the amount of flaring that they are

doing in the oil to recapture some of that gas. Gas is going to take

on, we believe, a larger percentage of the energy resources that Nigeria produces, but again, if we can get that investment climate,

if we can end the war, and we also have to get rid of those mines,

just ending the war and getting the investment climate, we do not

know, Angola is one of the most heavily mined countries in the

16

world. Until we can address those issues and really get out there

and have some exploration from our private sector companies, Angola will never truly realize its potential.

We do not know how much they can do, but we know they can

do more.

Ms. LEE. Thank you very much.

Mr. HUMPHREY. Thank you.

Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Meeks.

Mr. MEEKS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary, I apologize for not being here for the beginning of your remarks and I

hope that the questions that I have you did not—I am not asking

repetitive questions, but in light of the situation in Angola, I do not

think it is by accident, for example, that we are having this hearing. I thank Mr. Chairman for it, because of what is going on this

country now. Recently when Secretary Richardson was before us

one of the questions that I asked him at that time was have we

explored other nations that are not a part of OPEC in getting them

to increase their pumping out of oil and he said he had.

In looking at Africa, not only Nigeria, but Angola and it looks

like it has a chance to pump out more and you hear about Tanzania and Sudan and Somalia, Madagascar, I think that it has an

opportunity to change. How even we look at Africa period with reference to our own interest dealing with petroleum.

So I am wondering if we are looking at a general policy that will

basically give OPEC some competition coming straight out I think

OPEC does 40 percent of the oil now so therefore that leaves another 60 percent that is needed and there is no real competition

where the continent of Africa can form that kind of competition. I

am wondering if there is a general policy that the Department of

Energy is looking at so that we can fortify, in essence, some of the

economies in Africa, but as well as make sure there is some competition to OPEC.

Mr. HUMPHREY. Thank you, Mr. Meeks. The general policy, what

we are trying to do is first and foremost develop the energy infrastructure of the countries of Africa and that includes if they have

resources, whether it is oil or whether it is gas, we want to fully

develop that.

We also realize that if they have those resources that exporting

those resources is the one sure fire way they have of gaining access

to hard currencies which can make a difference in the lives of their

people.

Secretary Richardson has been talking to a number of leaders

around the world, including Africa, who are not members of OPEC,

but who have the capabilities to produce oil. We think that this is

also critical because it is a national security issue. We have to have

a diverse supply of energy. We really learned a harsh lesson back

in the 1970’s when we were just totally dependent on energy supplies from the Middle East and it was stopped. We cannot afford

to have that again. It is in our interest to have the diversity of energy supplies. It is in our national security interests, but it is also

in the interests of the Africa countries.

One of the interesting facts is that we always talk about trade

and energy between the United States or Western Europe and Africa. It is interesting that there is a tremendous opportunity for

17

trade and energy amongst the African countries. They are not

doing that, but this again, trading energy, gives them badly needed

resources to develop their country. But yes, we are looking at as

a general policy enhancing their capabilities and that gets toward

again, I know I have said it once and I keep saying it because it

is key, putting in an infrastructure that is investment friendly,

sanctity of contracts, transparencies, streamlined bidding process,

because companies are interested in Africa because it is one of the

last great markets and to date, we do not really know what its true

potential is. We only know that it has a tremendous potential.

Mr. MEEKS. We know that there are new oil discoveries and they

are continuing to be found off the West Coast—in the West of Africa. Are our companies, are American companies involved with

these new discoveries? What are they doing? Are they around? I

know the French is looking. What are we doing as to these new discoveries?

Mr. HUMPHREY. A number of U.S. companies are heavily involved throughout Africa, not just West, but Central and East as

well and a number of exploration contracts have been signed. There

is some exploration going on in Uganda because carbon deposits

have been located in Uganda. In Tanzania. Some more going on in

Botswana. So yes, a number of U.S. companies are heavily involved

in these exploration activities. I could not give you a definitive

number to categorize what the totality of the investment dollars

are, but I can assure you there are a number of U.S. companies involved and continuing to get involved.

Mr. MEEKS. Let just ask a last question and it deals with Equatorial Guinea where we know that there has been, their elections

are just passed, there has been some questions of fraud, etcetera,

but there also has been some new found oil there. I am wondering

how would you see, or how do you see this new discovery. Is it

going to help the government? Is it going to help some of the

human rights issues and questions that are there with this new

found wealth that the country now has because I know most of the

people live in poverty. How do you see it making a difference and

are we involved or any of the U.S. companies involved with discoveries there?

Mr. HUMPHREY. Thank you, first and foremost it has the capability of making a difference in the lives of the Equatorial Guineans. We had the pleasure of meeting with the Minister of Energy

from Equatorial Guinea and his delegation when he was in Tucson.

We had bilateral discussions with him as well.

One of the keys is the government of the Equatorial Guinea

themselves, whether or not they are going to hold true and take

whatever resources that they get from these discoveries and invest

them in the citizens, invest them in the islands or as we have seen

in some countries in the past when corruption comes in, these resources never make it to the people and benefit the people. So we

are working with the government of Equatorial Guinea to make

certain that there is investment in the human capital of their country that goes along with investment in the resource capital.

Yes, U.S. firms are involved and there is tremendous, tremendous opportunities there in Equatorial Guinea and we can hope

and we will continue to push that there be some fair distribution

18

of resources, that it gets back to the communities, to the people so

that these assets are not just taken out of the shores of Equatorial

Guinea and shipped somewhere to Western Europe, but there is a

corresponding commitment to the people.

Mr. MEEKS. Thank you.

Mr. HUMPHREY. Thank you.

Mr. ROYCE. Assistant Secretary Humphrey, we want to thank

you very much for your testimony today.

Mr. HUMPHREY. Thank you, Mr. Royce.

Mr. ROYCE. And Mr. Payne has a question for you.

Mr. PAYNE. Not a question, just a statement. Tell the Secretary

of Energy that if he is going to have another ministerial meeting

of African ministers of energy that I know he likes Tucson, Arizona

and the West, but we do want those African ministers to know that

there are other people around too, so tell him he can come to New

York, Atlanta, New Orleans, Los Angeles.

Mr. ROYCE. Let the record show that Newark, New Jersey——

Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Chairman, the record might show that, but having spent many, many years on the Hill, I know the power of the

gavel, so California looks pretty good to me.

Mr. ROYCE. Again, thanks for your testimony.

Mr. HUMPHREY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, thank you, Members.

Mr. ROYCE. Before we go to our last panel I would just like to

note that we have a statement from the Chevron Corporation and

without objection it will be submitted for the record and now we

will turn to our second panel.

I am going to ask Mr. J. Robinson West, Mr. Robin West, Chairman of the Board and founder of the Petroleum Finance Company

to come forward. He advises Chief Executives of leading international and national oil companies on corporate and international

gas and power strategy, on acquisitions and on investor relations.

Mr. West received his undergraduate at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a J.D. at Temple University. Mr. West is

a member of the Pennsylvania Bar. Prior to founding the Petroleum Finance Corporation in 1984, Mr. West served in the Reagan

Administration as Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Policy,

Budget and Administration. Between 1977 and 1980 he was the

first Vice President of Blithe, Eastman, Dillan and Company, an

investment banking firm and Mr. West served in the Ford Administration as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Economic Affairs and on the White House staff from 1974

to 1976.

We thank you for joining us today, Mr. West. If you could proceed with your testimony and if you want to abbreviate and just—

we have got your written testimony for the record.

STATEMENT OF J. ROBINSON WEST, CHAIRMAN, THE

PETROLEUM FINANCE COMPANY

Mr. WEST. Mr. Chairman, what I would like to do with your permission is to go through some of these slides quite quickly. I do not

work from written testimony generally, I work from slides.

A couple of points on West Africa which is what I want to talk

about, not all of Africa. The first point is that there is a lot of discussion about oil in the Middle East and oil in the Caspian, but the

19

fact of the matter is that West Africa is very, very significant to

world oil markets for several reasons. First, as one of my slides will

show, there is a lot more oil in West Africa than there is in the

Caspian. Also there is a long history of industry investment in

West Africa. In the Middle East, there is a lot more oil, but there

is very little access on the part of the industry to the Middle East.

West Africa is an area of enormous importance to the industry.

Second, the kind of crude oil that comes from West Africa is different than from many other places. It is light, sweet crude and is

among the most widely traded crude oils in the world. So West Africa, even though you do not hear too much about it in public, it

is very important to the industry.

Can we have the first slide? Why is it that Africa is attracting

so much interest right now to the industry now? First, a lot of big

discoveries made possible by new technology, breakthrough technologies in ultra-deep water. There are enormous reserves that are

being discovered, totalling in excess of 5 billion barrels. The governments, the host countries such as Nigeria and Angola, Equatorial Guinea, and others, need the revenues. The government’s

track record with foreign oil companies over time is very good. For

companies that know how to deal with the governments, they know

how to manage the risk. So West Africa is an area of great importance to the industry.

The second slide I think is important to keep in mind too in

terms of reserves and production. You will see that West Africa has

more oil than say Europe, United States, less than Russia, but a

great deal more than Central Asia. The other point, however, is

that you will see the rate of production that oil is produced at a

much lower production rate, given the reserves, than for example,

in Europe and the United States. So that we believe there is a lot

of prospectivity and that production is going to increase a great

deal.

Mr. ROYCE. If I could stop you, is there a graph of the Persian

Gulf in there?

Mr. WEST. No, it is not on here.

Mr. ROYCE. What would it be in billion barrels?

Mr. WEST. It would be hundreds of billions of barrels.

Mr. ROYCE. Hundreds of billions.

Mr. WEST. But remember from the standpoint of the industry, (a)

there is no industry access in Saudi Arabia, virtually none in Kuwait. In Iran, it is very modest. It does not exist in Iraq, Qatari,

Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Oman is really in the only Gulf places

where there is any access. So it is important—it is a unique role

that Africa plays.

If I could go to the next slide, it is also important to remember

that there is oil production in other places in places other than Nigeria and Angola that includes the Congo, Equatorial Guinea,

Gabon and Cameroon. This gives you the idea of not only the production, but also the expected production. These are based on our

estimates.

Going to the next slide, there was—some discussion here about

volumes. These are our estimates of the impact of deep water developments in both Angola and in Nigeria. You will see that in the

year 1999 that there is about—Angola is producing approximately

20

600,000 barrels of oil per day. This is going to rise very substantially. It will more than double by 2010. Nigeria is producing close

to 2 million barrels and this is going to rise very substantially also,

close to 3 million barrels. The question which was asked about onshore production. If the situation in Nigeria clears up and it is stable, that we estimate there will be another 400,000 barrels of production of oil that would come from on-shore production. Likewise,

in Angola, nobody really has any idea. It is largely unexplored. It

is physically dangerous. There are a lot of mines. Oil production in

Angola began on-shore, but there is very modest.

The next slide is oil investment needed to lift per capital GDP.

As we will show in later slides, oil is very, very important to the

economies of this country. PPP is Purchasing Power Per Capital.

This is not Purchasing Power for GDP. We have adjusted it so the

number comes out a little more than it would if it was flat GDP.

But what is really quite striking is if you take the surge in production in Angola that we anticipate and you take the population of

Angola which is about 12 million which is relatively small, is that

the ground oil production can transform Angola. If the war can

end, Angola can become a very vital, strong country, a really

unique country in West Africa.

If you go to the next slide, again, we see production surging and

the yellow here is the potential from ultra-deep water. At this point

are just estimates.

The next slide is to give you an idea of other heavily populated

oil producing countries such as Algeria and Indonesia. What you

see is that Nigeria and Angola are going to take a much more important role, that they are going to take a bigger place at the table

in the international oil business.

The challenges ahead for the governments of West Africa, are

that they need to create a secure environment for foreign investment. They must build strong political institutions. They have got

to create the necessary conditions for sustained economic growth

and development. For the industry to invest as Deputy Assistant

Secretary Humphrey pointed out, there has got to be a legal infrastructure on which the capital can flow and we are talking about

enormous amounts of capital.

Where is this money going to come from? There is really only one

place it can come from. It can only come from the international

companies. This shows the balance sheet of the industry. On the

bottom axis is the credit rating. On the vertical axis is the reserves.

You can see that governments have a lot of oil, but the high credit

ratings, they come from the international companies. So the only

way that the potential of West Africa is going to be unlocked is in

partnership with these companies that have strong balance sheets.

In terms of competition in West Africa, the governments are

going to need the balance sheet and the technology of the big companies, but the industry is restructuring and this could affect West

Africa. However, that being said, there are a number of very large,

strong companies such as Chevron and Exxon Mobil which are interested in West Africa. There is high above-ground risk, political

problems however, as well as increasing operational costs, particularly on-shore in both Nigeria and Angola.

21

Big ticket, major capital projects, this is really a business only

for very large companies which is too bad. If you have smaller companies, then more prospects will be developed. If peace can come

to Angola and stability can come to Nigeria, you will see a lot more

competition.

The question was asked are American companies involved? You

can see that Exxon which had no deep water licenses in 1991, now

has 21 in 1999. It is a very, very important part of Exxon Mobil’s

future. They have invested and they have more than $10 billion of

capital exposed.

Likewise, in the next slide if you look at Chevron in West Africa

and its role in West Africa, the graph on the left is reserves and

production in 1998. You can see that Chevron has reserves of a little under 1.5 billion barrels in Net production to the company, is

a little over 100,000 barrels. But if you look on the other axis you

can see that the vertical axis is production cost and the horizontal

axis is net income per barrel. Are people making money in West

Africa? The answer is yes. So that West Africa is a very important

part of companies’ portfolios. They have a very good relationship

and it is mutually beneficial to both countries.

Now if you look at the economies of these countries, it is pretty

sobering. Oil has a key role to play. If you look at trends in fiscal

accounts, the blue line is revenues, the red line is expenditures and

the green bar is the difference. You can see that Angola is permanently running deficits. Where does the money come from? To a

large extent oil. You can see it fell in 1998, which was just a function of price. The other source is primarily diamonds. You look at

the composition of expenditures, you can see that defense and interest expenses are important parts. I should point out that the

chart begins at 40 percent, so it is not quite as bad as it looks. But

you can see that they have got very, substantial structural problems in the Angolan economy. The only way out of this is going to

be oil. You can see that crude exports represent a vast preponderance of the foreign exchange reserves and that oil investment is

critical to the country’s economy going forward.

For Angola, the need for oil sector revenues will increase with

growing budget requirements. The oil business has got to be encouraged in Angola and Angola has got to encourage the oil business, but this is a partnership that I think both the companies and

the country are eager to encourage.

Finally, in terms of Nigeria, if you look at the economy as a

whole you will see that the blue line, which crashes in 1998, again

is a function of price. This is an economy that is entirely leveraged

to oil, when oil goes down, everything else goes down.

I would like to go to the next slide which shows that petroleum

is the key to stabilizing finances. Again, the gray is expenditures.

The blue is revenue. The red line is WTI which is the price of crude

oil and the black is the balance. You can see that when oil prices

go up, generally the government can run a balanced budget, but

when oil prices fall, the government goes substantially into deficit.

The last chart, I think is quite important here and that is the

balance of payments, the real money in Nigeria. You can see that

you have got foreign investment is gray and other flows which is

really flight capital and if you look at the red line, you can see

22

when oil prices were high, the blue line went up substantially.

That means the money moved out of the country. This is an

unsustainable situation for the Nigerian economy.

Debt rescheduling relief will be insufficient to solve Nigeria’s balance of payments problems. That is not enough. That being said,

that rescheduling is very important to it.

So in conclusion, we believe that the outlook in Nigeria there is

a new political structure. The old tensions are a problem, but the

energy sector remains the main economic driver and really the critical source for foreign investment.

The other question, Mr. Chairman, if you want me to go into

briefly on gas, what I would really like to do is simply say if you

look at the gas, go to the second chart here, what you will see is

with growing production there has been an effort to utilize the

flared gas. Shell has an LNG plant, Chevron is in gas to liquids

and the West African gas program, but the problem of production

is growing. They are absorbing, in effect, the existing gas, but as

production grows more gas will be available and this is a very, very

difficult challenge for them to manage.

I conclude there.[The statement of Mr. West appears in the appendix.]

Mr. ROYCE. Thank you for a very excellent presentation. I am

going to make a copy of your notes there and send that to the

Members.

Let me ask you about a question concerning China. Angola and

China recently signed a letter of intent on joint construction of a

refinery. The China National Petroleum Corporation also involved

a controversial operation in Sudan. Is China involved in any other

African nations’ energy sector and how should we view China’s energy activities in Africa, in your view?

Mr. WEST. I do not think they are involved in any significant activities in Africa at this point. They are, for example, in

Khazakstan. They have a significant investment. The Chinese are

in the process of floating Petro China, a new part of their national

oil company. China is very concerned about energy demand. If their

economy is to grow they are going to have to import more and more

energy. Again, one of the key factors, to remember about Africa is

that it produces light, sweet crude and this requires the least investment in refineries. This is the best kind of crude you can get

and a lot of the crude from West Africa flows into the Asian market

including China. So I think the Chinese are going to be watching

Africa, but they are watching the whole world and this is one of

the areas where their economy is going to move.

Mr. ROYCE. Let me ask you about Elf Aquitaine, if I could. They

have been reviewed traditionally as a tool of foreign policy for

France in Africa. Elf has been identified by press accounts as having played a major role in the overthrow of Congo Brassaville’s government a few years ago. Going back 30 years in support of the Biafran secessionist movement in Nigeria which led to civil war in

Nigeria, Elf recently merged with the French oil company, Total

Fina, and how do you see the new Elf Total Fina acting in Africa?

Do you think the company’s business practices in Africa are going

to differ from the practices of American oil companies in Africa?

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Mr. WEST. I think there are really two questions. One, will Elf

change its behavior now that it is part of Total? I think there has

been a huge series of scandals, some of the most significant figures

in France in the last 10 years have been dragged into this. Chancellor Kohl in Germany was involved in what was known as

L’Affaire Elf. That being said, I think that the management of

Total is not interested in being a political pawn as they used to be.

By the same token, Total has demonstrated its move into

Myanmar. It moved behind Conoco in Iran. They play by different

rules. It is perfectly legal, but it is by different rules and they do

it quite publicly. The old Elf did a lot of things under the table.

Mr. ROYCE. In your presentation you state that the governments

in West Africa need to create a secure environment for foreign investment. What are the specific challenges for these governments

and how much progress has been made over the last several years?

Mr. WEST. If I may say I think that to increase investment you

do need a secure environment, particularly in the gas business. The

gas business is entirely different than the oil business. People have

to (a) be able to pay for the gas. There has to be a market for the

gas. Oil can be exported, and given its physical characteristics, it

can be moved all over the world. Gas cannot. So there has got to

be a legal regime, you have got to be able to know how it is going

to work. You have got to have contracts which obligate the buyer.

You have to know you are going to get paid real money for it.

But that being said I think I should point out that the competition between the major oil companies to compete in West Africa in

deep water off-shore Nigeria and Angola is intense. If, you look, for

example, at government revenues in Angola, the foreign investment is largely bonus bids from the oil companies. In terms of the

oil business, there is a pretty secure, substantial course of dealing

right now. It is more risky, when you get either on-shore or in gas,

then there are substantial problems, commercial and physical security.

Mr. ROYCE. I want to thank you, Mr. West, for your testimony

and fine presentation. I am going to turn over the chairing of the

Committee at this time to Mr. Payne who will continue because I

have another appointment. So thank you very much.

Mr. PAYNE. [Presiding] Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Let

me thank you for calling this very important meeting. I think there

is going to be a vote in about 10 to 12 minutes also, so we might

try to speed through.

I really appreciate your comments and we are talking about trying to increase the production in Nigeria. I think one of the problems when you find oil is that everybody just wants the oil to be

the answer. Other sectors that could, be the answer, such as agriculture, and other kinds of industries that could really move forward are forgotten and everybody is depending simply on the oil,

and I know your country is only interested in oil, but is there any

discussion ever to when you are just giving advice that it is all

right to get all the oil you can, but like Nigeria is a great example,

import, vegetables. I mean it makes no sense. It is one of the most

fertile countries in the world and so do you feel that is the responsibility of your people or that is out of your hands?

24

Mr. WEST. I think a lot of people who look at the oil industry

now recognize that oil can be both a blessing and a curse for a

country for exactly what you are saying, that it is easy money and

it is controlled often by governments. I have often heard the formula for corruption is if you have power without accountability

equals corruption. In the oil sector that happens. I think that if you

look now that the way the oil companies operated even 10 years

ago and the way they operate now that they are spending more and

more money.

I think you have to be realistic. A place like Nigeria is a huge

country and to ask the oil companies to bear the burden on all of

this is simply unrealistic. Can they be good partners? Are there

ways they can be imaginative? Oil companies have—they do not

have just big balance sheets. They have access. They have some

very talented people and I would encourage them to try and build

that human capital. I think the next generation of oil executives

really are trying to do that. In the past, they did not, but the spirit

of what you are saying I agree with. I think one has to be realistic

as to just how much they can do.

Mr. PAYNE. Right, as has been mentioned, you have heard me

mention Chevron before, when they were involved in Nigeria with

the former dictator, of course, they have been improving since that.

Shell years ago, Elf, Talisman, now. Let me just, I guess time is

going to run out. So I will just ask about the question of——

Mr. WEST. Can I make one point?

Mr. PAYNE. Sure, go right ahead.

Mr. WEST. You mentioned Chevron. I believe there is a hospital

in Angola Chevron has rebuilt three different times. I mean you

have got to be fair to these guys. They have made some not insignificant investments here.

Mr. PAYNE. Yes, that is true. I have heard about that hospital.

One of the other things though we need to deal with and that is

once again some organizations are now taking, looking at them, but

this question about transparency. There is a lot of corruption and

usually the corrupted is the one that gets all of the bad publicity,

but you have to—I do not know if there is such a word, but you

have to have a corrupter, you know or a corruptees or corrupt

whatever. The ones who are doing the corrupting, and when do we

start to seriously not only in this industry, but all the rest, when

we do start seriously talking about the wasted money when as a

matter of fact in Germany it is a tax deductible item. You just put

down how much graft you paid and it goes in the whole business

account. Others are not as blatant but it is understood practice.

How do we ever change that cycle of corruption from the western

countries that are offering the money and then so that it can filter

down to some of these very poor countries that it is very enticing

when these offers are made?

Mr. WEST. Mr. Payne, I agree entirely. I think corruption is a

terrible blight. I think in fairness to American companies now,

large international American companies are extremely sensitive to

this issue and they just do not do it.

Now if money is stolen from the government once the money is

received that is beyond the control of the government, excuse me,

of the company.

25

Mr. PAYNE. Right.

Mr. WEST. I think that the big international companies are very

sensitive to this because they realize that the board and management can be criminally liable and they are very sensitive about

going to jail.

I think the question is whether other countries play by our roles

and the answer is they do not and I think there are efforts now

to try and impose our standards on other countries and companies

of those countries. I personally, I think this is going to happen over

time. I think American companies deserve some credit because

American companies at times have had to leave the table, if there

is the perception or looks like corruption, they just will not go near

it now and I think it is wise.

Mr. PAYNE. I agree and I am going to yield to my colleagues. It

is being discussed now I think in the European Parliament when

they were here a year or so ago, meeting in the U.S. I raised the

question and I do not know if they are going to invite me to their

meeting in Europe, but we did raise the question that this corruption of these countries have to be addressed and there is this transparency, international and others that are doing that.

Let me yield to Ms. Lee from California. She has questions.

Ms. LEE. Thank you very much. Let me just ask you in terms

of the environmental consequences of oil production, how do you

advise your companies with regard to the responsibility that oil

companies have in terms of environmental degradation? For instance, look at Nigeria in the Delta region. Specifically, the initiatives that were or are being developed now to address that and

what could have prevented that, if anything, based on how you see

corporate, U.S. corporate responsibility in this area?

Mr. WEST. I think that there are really two questions. The question is in terms of new projects and projects going forward, one executive was asked how do you, if there are not environmental laws

in a country, what standard do you apply? He said we apply the

same standards we do in the United States. They recognize—there

is a cost of doing business around the world as a world class company and they simply have to play in a certain league.

So going forward, I think you will find and in recent years, the

equipment is state-of-the-art and they do not cut corners.

Where life gets complicated is in the historic projects and things

like the Delta and you have situations where the companies can

argue, look, we met our legal standards in these countries which

they usually did, but the standard either was so low or nonexistent

and I think it is a problem that people have got to kind of work

together. There is no obvious answer and it is a gray area. I think

companies recognize they have responsibility, but the countries do

too and find a way that you can do it on the most efficient least

cost basis and in some place like the Delta the cleaning up the environment is a visible sign, and outward and visible sign of a lot

of other problems and it is not a discrete problem.

Ms. LEE. Thank you very much.

Mr. PAYNE. Thank you. The gentleman from New York?

Mr. MEEKS. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Let me just ask a quick question. The African Growth and Opportunity Act is something that

once passed, it increased incentive for our companies to do investVerDate 11-MAY-2000 11:55 Aug 01, 2000 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 65579.TXT HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1
26

ment in Africa. I am just wondering and curious, your opinion. Do

you think that the passage of that bill will give incentives to U.S.

companies to invest in Africa’s energy infrastructure?

Mr. WEST. Yes, I think, you put your finger on the right word.

Invest in the energy infrastructure. I think in terms of these enormous oil and gas projects, I do not think it makes much difference,

the investment was taking place, the structure was in place. They

know how to do it. I think in terms of power projects and gas and

it is the infrastructure within the countries, I do think it can make

a difference.

Mr. MEEKS. I yield back to the Chair.

Mr. PAYNE. All right, thank you very much. Thank you very

much, Mr. West and to Mr. Humphrey for that very important testimony. We appreciate we know we have a lot of work to do, but

we will move on. I do not want to get too used to this gavel, but

at this time the meeting is adjourned.

Thank you.

[Whereupon, at 3:43 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]

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MARCH 16, 2000

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