109 HR 5580 IH: United States-India Energy Security
U.S. House of Representatives
2006-06-09
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1.This Act may be cited as the
United States-India Energy Security
Cooperation Act of 2006
.
2.
(1)The December 2004
National Intelligence Council report entitled Mapping the Global Future
in 2020
states that the single most important factor affecting the
demand for energy will be global economic growth, especially that of China and
India. It is estimated that the current economic growth rate in India is
approximately 7 percent of gross domestic product. India will need to double
its energy consumption within the next 15 years to maintain steady rates of
economic growth.
(2)The United States
and India launched an energy dialogue on May 31, 2005, aimed at building upon a
broad range of existing energy cooperation and developing new avenues of
collaboration on energy. These efforts will promote increased trade and
investment in the energy sector by utilizing resources in the public and
private sectors, focusing on oil and gas, power and energy efficiency, new
technologies and renewable energy, coal and clean coal technology, and civil
nuclear cooperation. In his testimony before the Committee on Foreign Relations
of the Senate on July 26, 2005, Under Secretary of Energy David Garman said,
The United States and India recognize their mutual interests are best
served by working together in a collaborative fashion to ensure stability in
global energy markets.
.
(3)As the sixth
largest energy consumer in the world, India satisfies 70 percent of its oil
demand with imports and has embarked on an aggressive oil and gas exploration
program. The largest discovery of natural gas in the world in 2002 occurred in
India. In 2003, the largest discovery of oil in the world occurred in the state
of Rajasthan in India. External funding and investment in the oil and gas
industry in India is necessary to maximize recovery from oil fields, but an
improved investment environment in India is needed to attract such
investment.
(4)India is the
world’s third largest producer of coal and will continue to rely on coal as a
major energy source to support expanding industrial and electric power
generation needs. However, many of India’s coal-fired plants are inefficient
and lack adequate pollution control equipment. In his address to a joint
session of the United States Congress on July 19, 2005, Prime Minister of India
Manmohan Singh noted the importance of allowing greater access for developing
countries to clean coal technologies and of exploring partnerships that
encourage more efficient use of hydrocarbon resources.
(5)India provides a
market for United States technologies that promote the clean and efficient use
of energy.
(6)India has announced
plans to develop a 5,000,000 ton strategic crude oil reserve, which is expected
to be completed by 2009.
(7)United States
energy experts have emphasized the need for the United States to increase
collaboration with other countries—
(A)to develop and
deploy energy technologies that will not be pursued absent greater Federal
support;
(B)to increase
investment in cooperative international energy research; and
(C)to expand the
global network of strategic petroleum reserves.
3.It is the policy of the
United States—
(1)to cooperate with
India to address common energy challenges, to ensure future global energy
security, and to increase the world-wide availability of clean energy;
(2)to promote
dialogue and increased understanding between the United States and India on our
respective national energy policies and strategies as an integral part of the
expanding strategic partnership between the two countries; and
(3)to collaborate
with India in energy research that fosters market-based approaches to energy
security and offers the promise of technological breakthroughs that reduce oil
dependency globally.
4.Assistance to
support energy cooperation
(a)The
President is authorized to establish programs in support of greater energy
cooperation between the United States and India.
(b)Assistance
may be provided under this section for cooperation related to—
(1)research,
development, and deployment of clean coal and emission reduction technologies
and carbon sequestration projects;
(2)research,
development, and deployment of alternative fuel sources, such as ethanol,
bio-mass, and coal-based fuels;
(3)research,
development, and deployment of energy efficiency projects;
(4)research related
to commercially available technologies that promote the clean and efficient use
of energy in India; and
(5)technical
assistance in support of the development by the Government of India of a
strategic oil reserve to allow India to cope with short-term disruptions to
global oil supplies without causing shocks to India’s market or the global
market.
5.Report on energy
cooperation
(a)Not later than 180
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall,
in coordination with the Secretary of Energy, submit to the Committee on
Foreign Relations and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the
Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on
International Relations of the House of Representatives a report on energy
security cooperation between the United States and India.
(b)The
report required under subsection (a) shall describe—
(1)the ways in which
the United States and India have cooperated on energy research and development
activities;
(2)joint projects
that have been initiated using assistance authorized under section 4, and the
contribution such assistance has made to improving global energy security;
and
(3)plans for future
energy cooperation and joint projects between the United States and
India.