OLADE partakes in the III South American Energy Council, UNASUR

OLADE's Executive Secretary, Dr. Victorio Oxilia joined in the III South American Energy Council, UNASUR invited by the President of that Council and Minister of People's Power for Oil and Mining of Venezuela, Rafael Ramirez.

The Executive Secretary of OLADE spoke about the scope of studies related to South American Energy Balance the Organization has been undertaking in its capacity as technical adviser of the Working Group established to discuss this subject within the Energy Experts Group, an advisory body of the Council. The presentation of OLADE was preceded by the speech of the Working Group Coordinator, John Legisa, a member of the Delegation of Argentina. It is worth mentioning that the Working Group is also integrated by the Delegations of Brazil and Venezuela.

This important meeting gathering top authorities in the energy sector in South America took place in Caracas on May 18. It is important to highlight the broad regional response to the call and the high level of the participants. The meeting was attended by Ministers of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Uruguay, as well as by the host Minister and the Chancellor of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro. The meeting was also attended by the Vice Minister of Energy of Peru, the Director of the Electricity Company of Suriname, on behalf of the Minister, and the Head of International Department of the Ministry of Energy of Chile. Similarly, the Secretary General of UNASUR, Maria Emma Mejia and the incoming General Secretary Ali Rodriguez Araque, attended the Council and other authorities of the Member States of UNASUR.

OLADE highlighted the context in which to interpret an Energy Balance, the scope of the advice, examples of use of indicators of balance sheets and the possibility of continuing with the work, including forecasting studies. Among its deliberations, the Energy Council ratified OLADE as adviser on issues of regional energy integration. In particular, it instructed to expedite the work as it pertains to Energy Balance and Forecasting. This was reflected in the Ministerial Declaration widely disseminated by the international press.

Among other important discussions addressed in the Ministerial Declaration it was cited the creation of a Political-Legal Group that will work in coordination with the Panel to pursue the development of the proposed South American Energy Treaty. It has been also declared the recognition  of “(...) the will and effort of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean in the last decade to foster and consolidate their integration, bear witness to this are the new cooperative initiatives such as UNASUR, PETROCARIBE, ALBA and CELAC, responding to a sense of equality, brotherhood and respect for sovereignty.” Furthermore, it was reiterated the “(...) support to the sovereign right of the Member Countries to manage their natural resources, ensuring national energy security, since these are of public interest. The Executive Secretary of OLADE also expressed a strong support for integration as an important means to advance in the development of legal frameworks to ensure full sovereignty of peoples over their natural resources” and reaffirmed the decision to “(...) ensure compliance with the principles of transit and non-discrimination in accordance with Chapter IV on the energy exchanges of the Structure of the South American Energy Treaty in accordance with existing treaties and the regulatory framework of each country.”

Further information can be found at the official site of UNASUR: www.unasursg.org