US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry stressed the importance of energy security and called for the diversifying of energy sources during his speech at the Three Seas Initiative Business Forum in Bucharest.
“There is great security in energy diversity,” Perry said. Perry also said that countries of Central and Eastern Europe are facing “challenges due to a single (gas) supplier and Russia’s aggressive posturing.”
The United States will work closely with the states in the region and with the European Commission within the framework of the Transatlantic Partnership for Energy Cooperation, in an effort to catalyze investment and strategic infrastructure for the North-South corridor, the US official said.
According to Perry, there is a huge potential among the states in the Three Seas Initiative in the field of energy, which should not be limited to oil and gas pipelines, but must also be extended to nuclear energy and the use of renewable resources to diversify energy sources. There are plans for cooperation with Poland and the Czech Republic, the US official said.
“Our partnership in the energy field gives these projects greater visibility and technical support … We are ready to get involved in the business community and this leads to economic growth and prosperity in the Black Sea area,” said the US Secretary of Energy . “Today we can send a very clear signal that the US and Europe are open to business and ready to start,” he added.