US embassy cable - 05BOGOTA5203

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 005203 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY FOR A/S KAREN HARBERT 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/25/2015 
TAGS: SNAR, ENRG, PREL, OVIP, CO 
SUBJECT: DEPT OF ENERGY DEPUTY SECRETARY CLAY SELL 
DISCUSSES RANGE OF ISSUES WITH PRESIDENT URIBE 
 
Classified By: DCM Milton Drucker for reason 1.4 (d). 
 
1. (C)  Summary.  The U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy, Clay 
Sell, met with President Uribe on May 20 during the Colombian 
Oil and Gas Investment Conference in Cartagena.  President 
Uribe thanked the Deputy Secretary for U.S. support in 
fighting narcotrafficking and terrorism and asked him to 
relay to President Bush the GOC commitment to these efforts. 
The President also expressed appreciation for the Deputy 
Secretary's presence in supporting the energy conference and 
 
SIPDIS 
Colombian efforts to promote the attractiveness of the 
hydrocarbon sector.  The Deputy Secretary stated that DOE 
would follow-up by supporting small and medium size 
exploration firm interest in Colombia.  End Summary. 
 
2. (C) The Deputy Secretary of Energy met with President 
Uribe on May 20 together with the  Minister of Mines and 
Energy Luis Mejia, the President of Ecopetrol, Isaac 
Yanovich, and the Director of the National Hydrocarbon 
Agency, Armando Zamora.  With the DepSec were DOE A/S for 
Policy and International Affairs Karen Harbert and the DCM. 
President Uribe began by thanking the Deputy Secretary for 
U.S. support in the battle against narcotrafficking and 
terrorism. He noted that that morning, he had met with some 
Europeans who asked why Colombia had such a close 
relationship with the United states and he explained the 
coincidence of interests with the US and the help the US was 
providing to Colombia.  Uribe, as he has done with other 
visitors, implicitly referred to the Crime and Narcotics 
Center (CNC) numbers of hectares in coca cultivation.  He 
noted the failure to reduce the area devoted to coca farming 
in Colombia and insisted this would lead to increased efforts 
to reduce the area under cultivation for coca.  Uribe stated 
that Colombia needs an additional base for aerial 
eradication.  He added that Colombia now is making a huge 
effort in manual eradication, dedicating almost 1000 people 
to the effort, but it is not enough and more effort was 
needed for aerial eradication. 
 
2.  (C) Uribe explicitly charged Deputy Secretary Sell with 
the task of letting President Bush know that Colombia,s 
determination to rid itself of the cocaine curse was 
undiminished and the recent data only strengthened the 
government,s resolve.  Uribe continued that the Colombian 
government remained equally determined to eliminate terrorism 
in Colombia.  He explained all the data on criminal activity 
for the last two years show a steep reduction in crime.  He 
also emphasized the increase in law enforcement effectiveness 
was accompanied by an increase in respect for human rights by 
government forces.  He noted the importance of human rights 
to the U.S. Congress and added human rights continue to be a 
GOC high priority.  Uribe explained his policy rested on two 
pillars:  transparency and efficiency. 
 
3. (C) Sell began by explaining he had met with U.S. 
companies (just prior to the meeting with President Uribe, 
Sell had met with U.S. energy sector investors in Colombia) 
who were in agreement that the security situation they faced 
had improved dramatically.  Evidence of this were the 
concerns they expressed on non-security related issues.  The 
President inquired about those issues and asked Minister of 
Mines and Energy Mejia to respond.  The issues centered on 
regulatory matters related to electrical energy, Mejia 
explained, would be resolved by the Ministry before the end 
of the year.  The president, apparently interested in this 
time commitment, added the dates to his PDA as the minister 
spoke. 
 
4. (C) Uribe insisted that he understood stable rules 
formulated in a transparent way were essential to stimulate 
increased investment in the energy sector.  President Uribe 
thanked Sell for the effort which went into the successful 
conference on oil and gas exploration in Colombia, noting 
that two successes had already occurred - the signing of an 
agreement for exploration with an Indian firm earlier that 
day and a dramatic increase in interest in Colombian 
hydrocarbon exploration.  Sell promised follow-up, noting DOE 
would help organize a small meeting of small and medium size 
firms that might take place in the United States in August. 
The companies involved would include exploration firms 
prepared to take the risks inherent in developing Colombia,s 
oil prospects.  Uribe was pleased to hear the news.  Mejia 
and Zamora promised to support the effort. 
 
5. (C)  Finally, Uribe spent a fair amount of time 
questioning Sell about the U.S. approach to using biodiesel 
in order to diversify the fuel mix in the United States. 
Uribe was interested in its applicability for Colombia as an 
agriculture dependent economy. 
 
6. (U) The DOE Deputy Secretary was not able to clear this 
message before his departure.  Post will report conference 
details via septel. 
WOOD