Remarks by
U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson
at the Signing of the
DOE, Petroleum Industry Technology Partnership Compact
Washington, DC
February 10, 2000

Good morning. Thank you for inviting me to help welcome the Department of Energy's newest "Industries of the Future" partner.

In a few minutes, representatives of the American Petroleum Institute and the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association will sign a compact with the Department. This stroke of a pen will signal a new era.

Industries of the Future is a unique initiative because rather than taking the traditional top-down government approach to regulating industry and telling industry what to do, we instead ask industry what they think they need to do in order to reach our common goals of improved efficiency and enhanced economic performance.

In its effort to make the overall energy system more efficient, the Department of Energy is working to help cut energy consumption in the nine most energy-intensive industries by 25 percent by the year 2010. Crosscutting technologies such as advanced turbine systems, combined heat and power systems, advanced materials, and sensors and controls will be a part of this R&D effort to increase energy savings and industrial productivity.

Today's action is of special significance. The petroleum refining process is the largest energy user among U.S. manufacturers, accounting for 7 percent of total U.S. energy consumption. It is also the largest source of energy in the United States. We use two times more petroleum than either coal or natural gas, and four times more than nuclear power or renewables. The industry's wish to make more efficient use of energy sources -- in producing an energy resource -- is what brought us to this moment.

This dedication to efficiency is needed overcome the challenges of a new century. Among them is combating global environmental problems, like climate change. No matter what your position on the issue, we can agree that investment in and the development of energy efficient technologies can help the economy grow and protect the environment at the same time. Advanced technologies are essential to our strategy of reducing greenhouse gases.

The Industries of the Future partnership will help identify and develop those technologies to improve petroleum industry operations. And it will address challenges such as declining crude-oil quality, fluctuating prices, low profit margins, and the cost of environmental compliance. Using and developing cleaner, more efficient advanced technologies will make U.S. petroleum products more competitive in the global marketplace.

But developing those new technologies and processes, which are vital to productivity, takes time and money. And available research funds are scarce.

That is why this compact we sign today is so important. Through it, the Department of Energy and the petroleum industry will share both the costs and risks of advanced research and development, and the rewards of successful scientific and technical discoveries. And the American people will reap the rewards.

Investments in environmental protection make good sense. The petroleum industry knows this, and is committed to reducing pollution throughout its operations. Over the last two decades, the industry has reduced its energy consumption by nearly 30 percent. Technological improvements have made some of it possible. And you ain't seen nothing yet. That 30 percent reduction is only a hint of the improved efficiency we expect once our cooperation into research and development starts to get results.

Signing this compact sends the petroleum industry's future in a new direction. We at the Department of Energy - your partners - are looking forward to working with you to strengthen your place in world markets, to be better stewards of our shared environment, and to deliver the benefits of new technologies and better efficiency to the American people.

Thank you, and now let us take the next step, sign this document, and make this partnership official.