US embassy cable - 04ANKARA6981

UNCLAS ANKARA 006981 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
PARIS FOR USOECD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, EPET, TU 
SUBJECT: TURKEY - IEA AND ENERGY DIPLOMACY 
 
REF: A. STATE 223844 
     B. PARIS 8678 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
1. (SBU) Energy Officer raised ref A energy diplomacy issues 
with Sami Demirbilek, Energy Ministry UnderSecretary and 
Turkey's International Energy Agency (IEA) Governing Board 
representative.  Demirbilek emphasized the importance Turkey 
gave to meeting its 90-day strategic stocks obligation to the 
IEA and fully supported encouraging countries to increase 
strategic stocks and improve data quality.  He said the IEA 
had just completed its in-depth country review of Turkey.  He 
expected the report to come out in early 2005 and to describe 
Turkey's energy policies as positive.  (Turkey is in 
compliance with its IEA stock-holding requirements, but it is 
at risk for non-compliance because of growing imports -- see 
ref B.)  Demirbilek said his Ministry was working with the 
Turkish Energy Regulatory Body to put in place a consumer 
price component to help refiners and distributors finance and 
maintain adequate stocks. 
 
2.  (SBU) Demirbilek said that he fully supported 
IEA-sponsored producer-consumer dialogue.  He put particular 
importance on dialogue with and efforts to increase oil 
production in Russia and Iraq.  Demirbilek stressed the 
willingness and capacity of TPAO (Turkish state oil firm) and 
private Turkish firms to play a role in oil sector 
reconstruction and development in northern Iraq.  When asked 
if the GOT made specific demarches to Saudi Arabia and other 
major OPEC producers on supplying adequate oil to world 
markets, he admitted that he was not aware of bilateral 
demarches. 
 
3.  (SBU) Demirbilek said he had been unable to attend the 
December IEA Governing Board.  He said that he worked closely 
with the Turkish mission to the OECD in Paris to cover the 
IEA portfolio. 
EDELMAN