On March 21, the Sciences Po student delegate visited International Energy Agency (IEA) located on rue de la Fédération. It was part of the class “Energy Diplomacy” taught by PSIA’s Visiting Professor William Ramsay, who was the Deputy Executive Director of IEA and an former US Ambassador.

The two-hour conference kicked off with the welcome address of Ms. Maria van der Hoeven, Executive Director of IEA. She explained the driving forces of the current high oil price. One is the expectation of the market due to the risk such as the embargo on Iranian oil; another is due to the fact that certain countries are building up oil reserves such as China. Also she envisioned shale gas and  renewable energy sources as the two game changers of the future global energy market.

Followed by  Ms. Maria van der Hoeven, Mr. Garnier, the head of energy statistics division, explained the importance of energy statistics. IEA is in cooperation with member as well as non-member countries to promote standardization of global energy statistics. IEA has 30 statisticians dedicated to collecting, analyzing and publishing global energy statistics.

Mr. Didier Houssin, Director Energy Markets and Security, presented the role of IEA in the global Energy Governance; Mr. Lew Fulton, Head of Energy Technology Policy Division, illustrated IEA’s leadership role in multilateral diplomacy in transport activities. Finally, Rebecca Gaghen, Head of Communication and Information Office, explained the significant role of “Spreading the Messages.” In fact, publication consists of 20% of IEA’s budget.

IEA was established after the 1973 oil crisis to help the countries coordinate a collective response to major disruptions in oil supply through the release of emergence oil stocks to the markets. Since then, IEA has evolved and expanded. Beyond energy security, it is at the heart of global energy dialogue and providing authoritative statistics and analysis.

Contributed by Yi Chen.