SPECIAL SEMINAR SERIES, KNUST, KUMASI

PRESENTATION ON BEHALF OF NDC FLAGBEARER, PROFESSOR JOHN EVANS ATTA MILLS, BY HONOURABLE JOHN DRAMANI MAHAMA, NDC VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

INTRODUCTION

I am excited at the opportunity you have provided for this series of presentations on energy by flag bearers of political parties. This is a very appropriate venue for these discussions for many reasons: President Nkrumah, whose name this institution bears, was determined to make science and technology education central to our national development right from our early independence period. The energy sector was central to the vision of national development that was expressed in the Seven-Year Development Plan (1963-70) of the First Republic. It is not surprising that the man chosen by President Nkrumah to lead this university at its establishment (Dr RP Baffour) had a life long interest in Energy and its relevance for industrialization.

This University has, since those days, produced graduates who have served this nation very well, manning with distinction key national institutions in the energy sector, such as Volta River Authority, the Electricity Company of Ghana, Tema Oil Refinery, GOIL, GNPC, BOST, Energy Commission, Energy Foundation, NPA and so on. Important research in the energy sector has emanated from this University. There is no doubt that the success of Ghana’s energy sector in the future will depend on the continued commitment of products of this University and of other national institutions to performing their roles in accordance with the highest professional standards and I look forward to benefiting from such perspectives as are available from such professionalism.

BACKGROUND

Historically, as we all know, the Akosombo hydro-electric dam project, has underpinned Ghana’s post-independence power sector. Constructed by President Nkrumah as part of his visionary perspective on Ghana’s development, it served as a source of power not only for Ghana but also for neighbouring countries, Togo and Benin in the first instance, and subsequently Cote d’Ívoire and Burkina Faso as well. With this project Ghana moved from dependence on diesel-fired power generation to low cost hydro power. No Ghanaian can, today, doubt the importance that the project has had for Ghana’s development over the years, even though some at the time expressed opposition to it as being a wasteful “prestige project” and campaigned against funding being provided by the US Government for it. In fact, if it were not for that project, Ghana’s development, especially after the oil shocks of the 1970s, would have been severely retarded.

By the 1980s when the Economic Recovery Programme was initiated by the PNDC, it was already becoming clear that Ghana needed to diversify her sources of power generation and the least cost option that was established from the various studies that were undertaken was natural gas fired thermal generation. As the economy grew by an average of five percent per annum, it became evident that the power generation capacity of the country was being overstretched. Everybody with any experience of our energy sector has known of the cyclical nature of rainfall that determines the production capacity of the Akosombo dam and, later, the Kpong dam. That is part of what made thermal complementation a vital necessity. This was the context in which steps began to be taken to intensify Ghana’s search for oil and gas, particularly in the western offshore area of Ghana where some modest discoveries had already been made. It was found necessary not only to put in place the appropriate legal and policy framework but also to create a national petroleum corporation to spearhead this effort

ENERGY CRISES

The NDC, having managed the power crisis of the 1990s, began to take steps that would address the situation on a long term basis. These steps included the West African Gas Pipeline Project, cooperation with Cote D’Ivoire in order to access their natural gas as well as sale and purchase of electricity, attention to indigenous gas resources in the shallow water Tano fields as a basis of the operation of the Osagyefo power barge, the building of the Aboadze plant, currently at 550 megawatt capacity, the building of strategic petroleum storage depots across the country and commissioning a strategic national energy plan which laid out steps that were to be taken to ensure additional power for the nation among other things.

Unfortunately, as a result of a failure of continuity in the implementation of these plans, the nation experienced the energy crisis that lasted over twelve months. The decision to acquire VALCO and to provide power to VALCO at a time when the level of water in the Volta Lake was low proved very costly for this country. VRA also had to provide this power at prices that were lower than other consumers, which deprived VRA of much needed resources. Eventually, the energy crisis made it impossible to justify continued supply to VALCO. The costs to the country of the energy crisis have been huge. Load shedding of over one-third of Ghana’s output was resorted to with severe consequences for industrial as well as domestic use of power. There has been a major loss of economic output during this period and it is estimated that GDP growth was reduced by almost 1% per annum as a result of the power crisis.

The impact on industry, including the psychological impact and the postponement of investment decisions, is incalculable. As more high cost diesel-fired power plants have been resorted to tariffs are being significantly increased beyond the means of consumers. It must be noted that diesel fired power cost the nation as much as 30-45 cents per kilowatt hour as compared the estimated 4-5 cents from indigenous natural gas. Industry in Ghana has suffered considerably; important mining projects, for instance, some initiated during the period of the NDC Government, have been suspended as a result of the energy crisis. The crisis is not over by any means and urgent steps need to be taken.

Among the steps that we will take, based on the previous initiatives that we already had in place, are:

• Intensify effort to increase generation capacity based on gas fired power to ensure low generation cost

• Aggressively pursue the Tano basin gas development and expansion of the Osagyefo barge project

• Implement the Aboadze steam turbine project which would bring in additional 110MW

• Accelerate the use of natural gas at Aboadze

• Implement programme to restore Volta lake for optimal hydro generation

• Implement comprehensive energy conservation measures that would yield a ten percent saving in consumption.

The present non-involvement of GNPC in the West Africa Gas Pipeline Project would be revisited under the new NDC administration. As you are no doubt aware, the involvement of GNPC in relation to both the West African Gas Pipeline as well as the Osagyefo barge was curtailed even though there can be no doubt that natural gas development and gas pipeline projects are within the core business of a petroleum company. I want to stress that the West African Gas Pipeline project was not conceived only as giving access to Nigerian gas. By insisting that it should be an “open access” pipeline, as the NDC Government did, and as was expressed in the original Memorandum of Understanding on the project that was signed by the Governments of Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana, any gas found along the route of the pipeline was to have access to the pipeline upon payment of the transportation tariff. Sadly, this aspect of the original understanding has been lost in the subsequent agreements that have been negotiated and signed by the NPP Government. Part of the future agenda has to be a restoration of these critical original bases of the project and ensuring that other distortions such as the indexation of the price of gas to crude oil, which will now make the price of gas from Nigeria very expensive, are corrected.

NEED FOR CONTINUITY

The long lead time required for energy projects makes it particularly important for there to be continuity in the implementation of plans for capacity additions. It is a fact that the NPP government inherited a comprehensive generation expansion programme from the NDC and also was advised to add to the generation system by VRA and Energy Commission. The plan advised that to sustain the economic growth for the country, there was the need to add about 100 MW to the generation system every year. Until the country got into the electricity shortage crisis, the NPP had not added a single unit of electricity to the power system. All the generation plan activities for the short, medium and long terms as given by the NPP were developed during the power crisis period. This affirms the fact that the NPP had no plan for the supply of reliable electricity supply in the country until we got into the power crisis of 2006 to 2007.The failure of continuity which led to the recent crisis is well illustrated in the handling of both the Osagyefo barge project and the plans for adding more capacity to the Takoradi thermal plant with a 110 mw steam turbine.

As part of the determination to reverse whatever the NDC had initiated, the NPP Government was determined to move the Osagyefo barge, which had been specifically designed for Effasu/Mangyea in the Western Region to Tema. Towards this end, the President assembled his whole Cabinet to meet a delegation of chiefs from the Western Region to justify the decision. Perhaps an important lesson for all of us since the First Republic is to avoid the politicization of such development issues and harness all our resources to achieve the best outcomes, especially in times of national emergency. That was why in 2006 we called on the government to adopt a non-partisan approach to energy crisis; this was not heeded, with unfortunate consequences.

FINANCES OF VRA AND ECG

The Government of the NDC would take steps to restore the finances of the VRA and the Electricity Company of Ghana. The VRA is currently indebted to its suppliers and banks in excess of $750m. Incredibly, the VRA has problems paying its staff. The ECG fares no better.

Our future perspectives on electricity sector The overriding objective of the electricity sub-sector would be to increase access to safe, reliable and efficient power supply for Ghanaians to meet national economic and social development needs. Ghana’s installed electricity generation is about 1600 MW, excluding the emergency diesel plants. We will increase generation capacity in the country to at least 5000MW within the medium term. The anticipated increase in generation will enable cost-effective supply to meet the requirements not only of VALCO but of a fully integrated aluminium industry, processing local bauxite as has been the ambition of the country since the First Republic.

The NDC government believes that the operation of the electricity supply industry will have to be constantly optimised to maximise the potential for adequate, reliable, and low cost electricity to serve the people and industries of Ghana. We shall accelerate the addition of capacity to generation, transmission and distribution levels in order to remove the deficit that had been created by the NPP government.

Our policy outlook for the electricity sector involves the following:

• Generation of electric power shall be fully open to private and public investors as Independent Power Producers. Investment shall be based on economic and financial criteria considering open access to the network, balanced domestic supply and environmental impacts.

• We shall restore the momentum of the NDC programme to provide access to electricity progressively to all households.

• Regional co-operation and integration in electricity supply, as is being developed within the WAPP, would be actively pursued, with Ghana regaining its position as a net exporter of electricity and for regional energy security.

All the above measures would enable a lowering of the cost of producing electricity in Ghana and therefore lowering electricity tariffs to the consumer.

To achieve the above:

• The NDC government will implement the Power sector reform strategy that is already fully worked out (refer to Annex 1abc) and which was intended to increase private sector investment and participation in the generation and distribution of power.

• A key aspect of this reform is to have the existing high voltage transmission network operate as an open grid that may be accessed by any generation entity, public or private. Such transparent, market-determined competition in generation would clearly serve to reduce the currently high generation cost.

• The country would be zoned to enable several distribution companies participate in the supply of power to households and industries

• Targeted governmental programmes of electricity supply to rural and remoter areas of the country are an essential element in this plan to increase private sector participation in electricity production and distribution. District Assemblies will be critical drivers of these governmental interventions

Effective regulation of such a system will require the strengthening of the PURC and the building of confidence in the capacity of the PURC to play its independent regulatory role taking full account of the evolving market. A useful analogy to consider as regards these future perspectives in the power sector is to compare the situation in Ghana with one state-owned radio station to the current situation of private licensed radio stations operating all around the country in different zones, something that was also initiated by the NDC government.

Petroleum Sector

Our vision for the petroleum sub-sector is to ensure the availability of petroleum products to the nation in a cost effective and environmentally sustainable manner. Currently the prices of petroleum products have been rising at an alarming rate. Much as the rising prices of crude oil on the international market are a factor, there are added costs to the consumer arising from inefficiency and a lack of transparency in many aspects of the operations of entities in the sector as well as outright corruption.

Tema Oil Refinery (TOR)

The construction of an oil refinery in Tema in the First Republic, like the construction of the Akosombo dam, was another far-sighted move to ensure ready availability of petroleum products to meet the demands of the Ghanaian economy. The Tema Oil Refinery has had access to crude oil supply mainly from nearby Nigeria over the years. In the past, contractual arrangements involving state agencies facilitated the supply. However, since 2001 the NPP Government brought into these arrangements a private Nigerian company, Sahara Energy, that had no previous experience of lifting and exporting crude oil from Nigeria but which now came to dominate the supply processes to the refinery. Indeed, Sahara has also been the monopoly supplier of crude oil to the Volta River Authority to meet the requirements at the Aboadze thermal plants.

There is no good reason, in the view of the NDC, to sacrifice the jobs of competent Ghanaians for a monopoly in favour of a foreign company. It will be recalled that in 2001, when serious issues were raised about this Sahara contract, President Kufuor bluntly refused to provide any justification for the transaction, simply asserting that the Sahara deal would go ahead, any protestations notwithstanding. As we look ahead to the prospect of the Tema Oil Refinery processing crude oil from Ghana, it becomes even more absurd to continue such monopoly arrangements.

Despite the TOR Debt Recovery Levy initiated in March 2003 which had grossed in excess of Five Trillion Cedis (US$500m), TOR is currently indebted to Ghana Commercial Bank alone in excess of US$500m. The Bank of Ghana has expressed its alarm about the solvency of Ghana Commercial Bank. The Central Bank has therefore questioned whether the deregulation policy of government is actually effective.

The finances of TOR, like those of VRA discussed previously, will literally have to be taken into intensive care!! It is mind-boggling to observe that two of the premier institutions in the energy sector have debts totaling over US$1.25 billion even as we pay more and more for electricity as well as petroleum products. The NDC will unravel the mystery of the rising TOR debt and immediately embark on streamlining the costs incurred by TOR in the crude oil supply process, including transportation and related charges, in the process.

The inadequacy of local refining capacity becomes even more pronounced as the economy grows. The NDC’s expansion plans for the refinery would almost double throughput, enabling TOR to process a significant part of Ghana’s oil production and allowing for exporting surplus products from the refinery. This initiative would offer serious prospects for attracting private investment and these will be actively pursued. At the same time, investment in the construction of additional export-oriented refinery capacity in Ghana will be encouraged with a view to Ghana evolving as a petroleum product hub.

The Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Ltd would be a vehicle for establishing a minimum of ninety (90) days strategic stocks reserves with an expansion of depots and tank farms across the country. The Volta Lake Transport Company would be rid of the bottlenecks that have prevented it developing a cost-effective system of water-borne transportation for petroleum products. The abandoned rail based petroleum transportation system to Kumasi BOST depot will be restored.

PETROLEUM PRODUCT DISTRIBUTION

While most of the petroleum products from the Tema Oil Refinery address vehicle transportation needs, there are also products whose significance for social development make them of particular interest.

LPG

Liquefied petroleum gas, for instance, has the potential to contribute to less dependence on fuel wood and, hence, conservation of forest cover in a situation where Ghana has seen rapid deforestation. The NDC Government policy will seek to replace fuel wood as the dominant source of energy for cooking with LPG. The national LPG Petroleum programme started in the early nineties would be re-introduced to make sure that as Ghana moves to achieve middle income status more than half of our households use LPG or electricity for cooking. To this end, manufacturing capacity, which began with the establishment of an LPG cylinder plant, will be extended to other appliances for safe LPG use domestically. The environmental benefits of fuel wood replacement will be quantified and used as a tool for financing the required new investments which will be in collaboration with the private sector.

GASOLINE PREMIX AND KEROSENE

The petroleum fuel used by fishermen in their boats, kerosene used in rural communities for lighting are also products with social significance that require special arrangements to ensure access to the genuine users. Given the incidence of diversion and adulteration of these products by racketeers, the involvement of co-operatives of user groups will be intensified to ensure self-policing. District Assemblies will also be a key part of monitoring the systems for ensuring access to intended beneficiaries.

NPA

The apparent inability of the National Petroleum Authority to superintend a rationalized operation of Oil Marketing Companies will be addressed urgently. The management of deregulation including the administration of petroleum price adjustment must not be undertaken in a disruptive manner. The Uniform Petroleum Pricing Fund (UPPF), an important instrument for equalizing the price of petroleum products across the country is in disarray thus threatening the operations of indigenous Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs). We will restore the effective access of marketers to this Fund so that the price equalization objective of this instrument is maintained.

GOIL PRIVATIZATION

While the flotation of GOIL on the Ghana Stock Exchange is an important step in private sector participation in the company, it is clear that the growing economy will necessitate considerable expansion of GOIL’s retail network. As such, GOIL will be encouraged to pursue opportunities for accelerating its growth through strategic partnerships that can deliver the increased levels of capital resources required. Such strategic relationships could also involve other state-owned entities in the sector so that GOIL’s presence on the stock exchange can also serve as a catalyst for private capital being introduced in such other entities. We also recognize that it is unacceptable for GOIL as a state owned enterprise to be saddled with debt stocks arising from supplies to state agencies.

GNPC

The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation was established by PNDC Law 64(1983) as a key element in a new policy framework for accelerating Ghana’s quest to establish indigenous oil and gas production. This framework also involved the passage of the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Law as well as the Petroleum Income Tax Law. Strong technical capacity has been built in the corporation and as Ghana advances towards establishing significant oil and gas production, the corporation will be at the heart of ensuring that Ghana benefits to the greatest extent possible from the discovery and development of oil and gas.

Local content requirements in the provision of services to the evolving industry will require the corporation to sensitize local suppliers of goods and services to the opportunities. As employment of Ghanaians and local skill development are also critical requirements in the legal framework, GNPC, in conjunction with the Ministry of Energy as the regulatory agency of the ongoing activities, will be encouraged to insist on compliance as well as facilitate the actual taking up of job opportunities by qualified Ghanaians. This will also require liaison with training institutions. We shall seek to empower Ghanaians to participate in oil and gas exploration and production to the fullest extent possible.

Further intensification of exploration in the years ahead will be achieved by GNPC continuing the active promotion of investment in the capital-intensive petroleum sector. This requires continued strengthening of technical capabilities and a firm grounding in the international industry. Government would facilitate GNPC developing strategic relationships with other national companies.

In addition to the Tano-Cape Three Points basin where recent discoveries have been made in deepwater areas, other sedimentary basins that GNPC will be encouraged to promote will include the onshore Voltaian basin which covers a large part of Ghana’s surface area but where very little exploration has been undertaken to date.

Natural Gas Utilization

An NDC Government will pay particular attention to the development of natural gas resources which have tended to be given lower priority by international oil companies. Instead of natural gas being treated as a poor relation of oil we regard gas as an equally valuable resource for Ghana not only for power generation but also for domestic household use (lpg) and other industrial and energy requirements. Indeed, Ghana having salt deposits as well as access to gas reserves from local and external sources creates a potential for accelerated development of petrochemical industries which we shall pursue vigorously. The development of the indigenous gas resources would also enable security of supply of gas for the Aboadze thermal plant which is the foundation customer for the West Africa Gas Pipeline project. This requires an acceleration of gas pipeline infrastructure from the west of Ghana (Tano Basin) to be integrated into the West African Gas Pipeline system. Integration westwards to Cote D’Ivoire would also provide competitive options and ensure that Ghana has a critical mass of gas supply for the variety of anticipated requirements.

The NDC Government will encourage GNPC to play a lead role in engineering optimal infrastructure scenarios for gas gathering and transportation facilities for both domestic utilization and the export market and will provide incentives for investors to partner GNPC in accelerated construction of these facilities..

Local logistics capabilities, fabrication, repair and maintenance facilities will be developed in Ghana to serve the requirements of the regional oil and gas industry.

ANTICIPATING PETROLEUM REVENUE

Long before any revenues are obtained by Government large capital investments are due to be made to reach production, especially for the oilfields just discovered. These investments affect revenues since cost recovery is an essential part of the investment framework An important aspect of the nation deriving value from oil and gas production, therefore, is the effective monitoring of these large capital expenditures. Recognizing the key roles that both the Ministry of Energy and GNPC have in ensuring proper accounting for all expenditures, strengthening of capacity in these areas, particularly, will be important to enable government achieve expected revenues. The revenue sharing formulas in the petroleum agreements, including those which enable government revenues to increase as companies also achieve higher returns on their investment, will be applied rigorously.

The NDC’s priorities for utilizing revenue from oil and gas will include the following:

• A significant portion of revenue to address the challenges of poverty in Ghana through expenditures in the priority areas of education, health, rural development, infrastructure, water and sanitation

• Investment in infrastructure, physical and social, in communities close to the oil and gas production activities, recognizing in particular the significance of these areas as new growth poles for the national economy

• Investment in a Future Generation Fund that can ensure sustained well being into the long-term.

• Investment in technical training, scientific research and development that will enable Ghanaians to be active participants in all aspects of the oil and gas industry and to be at the cutting edge of technological development in the industry

Fundamental to Ghana deriving maximum value from oil and gas resources is ensuring a framework for the management of the sector that is free of corruption and is transparent. The principles of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) will be among the bases for ensuring a transparent and equitable management of oil and gas revenues.

Transparency in the sector is the best assurance of creating widespread public confidence so as to avoid the dangers of dispute and conflict that oil production has engendered in certain contexts.

RENEWABLE ENERGY Renewable energy represents the most viable long term energy security platform for meeting the increasing energy demands of the globe generally and Ghana in particular. An NDC government will leverage the availability of cost effective cutting edge technology to bear on our huge national potential in renewable sources.

Hydro-electric power Hydro-electric power has been the most successful renewable energy resource that Ghana has had in its energy mix. Apart from the potential of the Volta River there are also good prospects for smaller run –of- the- river hydro projects on rivers such as Tano, Pra, Ankobra and Pwalugu. These will be closely evaluated and, where feasible, promoted as investment opportunities.

Solar energy The country, by virtue of its geographical coordinates, enjoys such a huge potential that the development of this potential would be our policy priority. Every single household in Ghana has the potential of meeting its immediate lighting needs from solar power. Additionally, available data indicates that the level of irradiation available in places such as Tamale, Wa, Bolgatanga and Ada, among others, can support solar thermal generation on a commercially viable scale. An NDC government would commit resources to solar energy and make it a major component of our energy mix. The greater use of solar for agricultural economy would be further researched and enhanced. Tax and other incentives would be made available to attract private capital into the development of solar energy, including supporting industries such as solar panel manufacture.

Wind energy Under the last NDC government, the Energy Commission undertook a study into the wind energy potential of the country. It is worth noting that the Mechanical Engineering Faculty of this very University in collaboration with a partner organization in 1999 undertook this survey. The study determined that we are capable of generating 5,400MW of electric power from wind alone, with the Keta Basin generating 2,000MW, and Kwahu, Afadjato and Gambaga areas generating considerable power as well. We will utilize the results of this study to initiate pilot projects and to attract investment into the sub-sector.

Biomass and Biogas We will encourage the use of the biomass potential of the country. Agricultural by-products, industrial and other waste etc. would be harnessed for power generation. The NDC government will encourage the bio-fuel industry in the country without compromising food production and food security in our country.

Tidal Wave Energy The development of technology that transforms ocean tidal waves into electric power also offers opportunities for Ghana’s energy sector. Investigating this technology development in relation to Ghana’s resource endowments will feature in the NDC’s efforts to establish a well- balanced energy portfolio. ENERGY CONSERVATION The potential for improving efficiency in the use of energy in Ghana is great. There is, however, inadequate awareness of, and improper attitudes towards rational use of energy. Creating increased awareness on energy efficiency and conservation is needed in order to induce a behavioural change. It is also important to encourage cleaner production and recycling, integrate energy efficiency in architecture and building designs and establish standards and legal framework.

Efficiency of energy usage in the industrial sector is relatively low especially in most small and medium size factories. This is due to a combination of factors including operating below rated capacity and the use of old inefficient technologies. The conduct of energy audits for industries with a view to ensuring energy conservation will be intensified and industries will be rewarded for improving energy efficiency

ENERGY AND JOB CREATION The development of the energy sector in the manner that we intend to pursue will provide a variety of job opportunities for Ghanaians. In addition to the contexts of oil and gas upstream development where we have highlighted the policy of such opportunities being made available, the range of initiatives that are part of the vision we have outlined will create job openings. Ensuring adequate energy supply to stimulate economic development will itself create opportunities. It is my candid opinion that the revitalization of the energy sector will be a real catalyst for economic growth and private sector initiative and creativity will be unleashed in many new directions which will generate jobs. I have made reference, for instance, to independent power producers generating power to supplement our existing stock of assets; I have referred to new distribution franchises, I have referred to developments similar to what we have seen in the explosion of private radio stations. I have mentioned the development of manufacturing capacity for meeting energy needs. I truly believe that we will restore to Ghana’s energy sector what the locusts have eaten and usher in a fresh dynamic that will soon make our long power crisis a matter of history. This new dynamic will generate important new job openings to an even greater extent than the critical energy initiatives of the First Republic created opportunities which many alumni of this great institution have taken up over the years.

Conclusion It is worth reiterating that our energy policy would be aligned to the social and economic principles of the NDC Government which are aimed at reconstruction and development. Energy provision in all its facets should not only be sustainable, but should also lead to improvement of the standard of living for all of the country’s citizens. NDC’s energy policy will specifically aim to: • enhance the efficiency and competitiveness of the Ghanaian economy by providing low-cost and high quality energy inputs to industrial, mining and other sectors as well as for domestic use; • improve social equity by addressing the energy requirements of the poor; and • ensure protection of the environment by sustainable utilisation of resources.

The challenge facing the energy sector of our nation is a huge one. To say otherwise would be to bury our heads in the sand. An Atta Mills- led NDC government would not shy away from the challenge. We will tackle it head on. We would also invite you in this institution to partner government in turning our energy challenges into opportunities to create wealth and improve the standard of living of the Ghanaian, especially the rural and urban poor.

The long period of darkness under the NPP will become history under the NDC Government with the new dynamism of the energy sector which will regain the confidence of the public.

We will avoid the trap of refusing to utilize Ghanaian expertise in the field simply for reasons of political affiliation. It will be my firm commitment, as President of Ghana, to use the skills that have been developed in our citizens in institutions such as this as the basis of the energy future of our country. It is not foreign consultants or wisdom from the World Bank and other such institutions that will develop our energy sector; it is we ourselves, sustaining the vision of our forebears, and acquiring the needed technological skills to make us succeed, that will deliver the goods.

I THANK YOU.