I am pleased to be here in Tokyo representing U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson.
Japan is a close friend, partner and ally of the United States.
In the energy arena, we are partners in science and technology, in Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation and in the pursuit of energy security and environmental cooperation. Secretary Richardson has sent me to Tokyo to brief the Government of Japan on our view of the current oil market. As you know the United States is concerned about the acute volatility we have seen over the past eighteen months and the record low levels of world commercial inventories of crude oil. I had the opportunity to brief officials in the Office of the Prime Minister, MITI, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and several members of the Diet. I shared the latest data from U.S. Energy Information Administration and the International Energy Agency on crude oil inventories and the potential for acute shortages of product this spring.