SOTU REACTION: KUWAIT OIL ANALYST COMMENTS ON

UNCLAS KUWAIT 000462

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

LONDON FOR TSOU
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY FOR IE
EB/ESC/IEC FOR GALLOGLY, DOWDY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ENRG EPET ECON BEXP KU OIL SECTOR
SUBJECT: SOTU REACTION: KUWAIT OIL ANALYST COMMENTS ON
"ADDICTION TO OIL"

This cable is sensitive but unclassified; please protect
accordingly. Not for Internet distribution.


1. (SBU) Econ Officer met February 8 with Kamel Harami, a
well-connected oil analyst and former KPC employee, to
discuss the recent State of the Union (SOTU) speech, and
specifically the President's statements about oil and energy
issues. Harami asked Econ Officer to further explain the
"addiction to oil" comment and the Advanced Energy Initiative
(AEI) from the President's address. He said that there is
significant interest here in Kuwait and throughout the region
in this statement, and said that he is getting many inquiries
from the press to offer his comments on this. He said that
his and others' concern is that, if there is a plan to phase
out 75% of U.S. reliance on Middle Eastern oil, this appears
to contradict recent calls by the U.S. for increased
investment and expansion of production capacity by OPEC
members.


2. (SBU) Econ Officer referred Harami to the specific
language in the SOTU speech and the White House press release
on the AEI, and said that further clarification was expected
from Washington soon. During the meeting, satellite TV
channel CNBC Arabic called Harami on his mobile phone for a
live interview on this topic. His comments to them were
along the lines of "let's wait for more clarification", but
he emphasized to Econ Officer after the interview that there
is a pressing need for the USG to clarify this statement in
light of its apparent contradiction to earlier statements
urging increasing production in the region.

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Visit Embassy Kuwait's Classified Website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/
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LeBaron