On Saturday, September 17, 2022, KSE held its first conference and banquet fundraiser in the United States. The event took place at the Harvard Club in New York City and was attended by 250 people. Professor Mylovanov hosted the banquet’s activities; he alternated between calling on invited speakers for brief remarks, as well as coordinating an auction of donated Ukrainian art and memorabilia. Speakers included Economics Nobel Laureates Paul Krugman and Richard Myerson; Harvard History Professor Serhii Plokhii; NYC Mayor Eric Adams, and attending Ukrainian ministerial and consular representatives.
Preceding the fundraiser there was a conference of two sessions each having three break-out panels. Panel topics were all related to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and included global security, the future of Ukraine’s economy, the energy crisis in Europe, as well as food security and other agricultural issues.
EPRINC’s Max Pyziur presented as well as moderated the energy panel titled “European Energy Crisis or Not.” His presentation focused on Europe’s reliance on Russian natural gas imports, the availability of alternative sources, especially from the U.S., closing with remarks on energy security and its relationship to national and economic security.
The Panel’s speakers and commentators included NaftoGaz COO Mavriky Kalugin, World Bank Director Charles Cormier, Jamestown Fellow Margarita Assenova, and David Martinon, CEO of Expert Petroleum, an E&P company focused on the remediation of depleted oil fields in Western Ukraine.
Details on the full event can be found here.
A copy of Max’s presentation can be found here.
A story in today’s Wall Street Journal (September 14, 2022) points out that the while U.S. consumers are getting a reprieve from high gasoline prices, a large jump in electricity and natural-gas costs are increasing their energy bills as winter approaches. The index for electricity in August climbed 15.8% over the same month a year ago, the biggest such 12-month increase since 1981. The story goes on to point out that electricity price increases have been driven by rising prices for natural gas, which powers about 37% of U.S. electricity production and that heating and cooking costs have increased 33% over the last 12 months.
A recent article published in Commonwealth Magazine by EPRINC Trustee Larry Goldstein and former Congressman Joe Kennedy highlight the dire circumstances faced by many low-income Americans as we head into winter. A main source of assistance for low-income families is the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP. The program is now facing a 50 percent funding cut at a time skyrocketing energy cost. Rising energy costs also highlight’s the importance of sustaining adequate production of legacy fuels until low-cost and low-carbon alternatives are freely available to consumers.
…Lucian Pugliaresi
China has emerged as a key player in the global natural gas market in the past decade, surpassing Japan as the top natural gas importer and the largest LNG importer in 2018 and 2021, respectively. China’s role in determining Asian natural gas trends—especially, gas pricing and LNG trade—is increasingly important as the country looks to replace greater volumes of coal with natural gas to implement its programs to reduce local air pollution. As part of EPRINC’s China Series, this publication evaluates market and policy trends in China and projects the country’s natural gas and LNG demand through 2030.