    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
    [February 24, 2005]
    [Pages 319-320]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Joint Statement by President George W. Bush and President Vladimir V.
    Putin: U.S.-Russian Energy Cooperation
    February 24, 2005

        Cooperation on energy issues remains an area of great promise for
    U.S.-Russian relations. We will work further to realize the vision for
    our energy cooperation in all aspects described in our statement in May
    2002, including through the mechanisms of the Commercial Energy Dialogue
    and the Energy Working Group. Accordingly, we have instructed our
    ministers to continue their energy dialogue, concentrating on ways to
    enhance energy security, diversify energy supplies, improve the
    transparency of the business and investment environment, reduce
    obstacles to increased commercial energy partnerships, and develop
    resources in an environmentally safe manner.
        We call upon our Ministers of Energy and Commerce to develop
    recommendations, which we can support at one of our upcoming meetings,
    on how to further intensify and develop our energy dialogue. Those
    recommendations will focus on identifying barriers to energy trade and
    investment, promoting initiatives to remove them on the basis of
    predictability, fairness and law, and suggesting specific proposals for
    cooperating in developing energy trade and investment.
        We will promote the creation of transparent tax, legal, regulatory,
    and contractual conditions for our companies' cooperation, and support
    Russia's pipeline system development, which will create the
    preconditions for increasing deliveries of oil and gas export, including
    to the U.S. market.
        We are interested in increasing U.S. commercial investment in
    Russia, so as to create additional capacity for liquefied natural gas
    (LNG) in Russia, and also with the aim of increasing LNG exports to U.S.
    markets. We would welcome increased Russian oil exports to the world
    market and an increased presence of imports from Russia in the United
    States. We would also welcome expanding mutual investments in the energy
    sectors of both countries.
        The initiation of several concrete projects should be targeted for
    no later than 2008.

     Note: An original was not available for verification of the content of
    this joint statement.

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