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national security strategy, international energy agency

Joint Committee takes evidence on the UK's energy security

12 July 2013

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The Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy take oral evidence from a representative of the International Energy Agency on Monday 15 July 2013.

Witness

4.30pm, Monday 15 July 2013

  • Dr Fatih Birol, Chief Economist and Head of the Economic Analysis Division, International Energy Agency

Purpose of the session

The Committee had said that in this series of evidence sessions it would seek to address the big questions facing the UK which it believed that the Government should address in the next NSS. The intention of this session was to focus on the UK’s Energy Security, which areas of the world affect the UK’s energy supply and price, and which trends and events in the future could impact on energy supply and price.

Dr Birol

Dr. Fatih Birol is Chief Economist and Head of the Economic Analysis Division of the Paris-based International Energy Agency. He is organiser and director of the World Energy Outlook series, the IEA’s flagship publication. He is also responsible for providing regular briefing to the Executive Director and Governing Board of the IEA on the economic impact of energy market and industry developments.

A Turkish citizen, Dr. Birol was born in Ankara in 1958. He earned a BSc degree in power engineering from the Technical University of Istanbul. He received his MSc and PhD in energy economics from the Technical University of Vienna. He worked for six years in the Secretariat of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, before joining the IEA in 1995. He is a regular contributor of articles on international energy analysis and policy and delivers numerous speeches around the world each year.

In June 2005, Dr Birol received the International Association of Energy Economics' Outstanding Contributions to the Profession Award. Dr Birol has previously given briefings to the House of Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee.

International Energy Agency (IEA)

The International Energy Agency (IEA) is an autonomous organisation which works to ensure reliable, affordable and clean energy for its 28 member countries and beyond.

Founded in response to the 1973/4 oil crisis, the IEA’s initial role was to help countries co-ordinate a collective response to major disruptions in oil supply through the release of emergency oil stocks to the markets.
While this continues to be a key aspect of its work, the IEA has evolved and expanded. It is at the heart of global dialogue on energy, providing authoritative and unbiased research, statistics, analysis and recommendations.

Today, the IEA’s four main areas of focus are:

  • Energy security: Promoting diversity, efficiency and flexibility within all energy sectors;
  • Economic development: Ensuring the stable supply of energy to IEA member countries and promoting free markets to foster economic growth and eliminate energy poverty;
  • Environmental awareness: Enhancing international knowledge of options for tackling climate change; and
  • Engagement worldwide: Working closely with non-member countries, especially major producers and consumers, to find solutions to shared energy and environmental concern

Useful links

Some of the following are links to external websites, for which the Committee cannot be held responsible for the content.

The meeting will be held in public at 4.30pm in Committee Room 3, Palace of Westminster.

Further information