Energy industry representatives and officials from multiple governments refused to allow fears of the coronavirus outbreak to interfere with a gathering focused on a major international energy development.
“At a time of some great uncertainty in the world today because of the coronavirus, I want to applaud all of you for being here,” Myron Brilliant, the Chamber of Commerce’s executive vice president for international relations, said Friday afternoon, “and I want to acknowledge particularly those of you who have traveled from abroad to be in Washington.”
Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, along with his counterparts from Israel and Egypt, convened at the Chamber’s headquarters steps from the White House to celebrate the burgeoning Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum. The newly established international organization could allow Israel to sell billions of dollars’ worth of natural gas to Europe through a market that pays diplomatic dividends with Arab nations.
“It will really help to stabilize the region,” Yuval Steinitz, the Israeli minister for energy and water resources, said during a panel discussion Friday. “It’s a message to the people of the region that it’s better to work together rather than argue and fight all the time.”
Steinitz and Brouillette appeared alongside Egyptian Petroleum Minister Tarek El-Molla, whose country hopes to import and process the Israeli natural gas before exporting it to Europe and other markets, and State Department Assistant Secretary Frank Fannon. The forum also includes Greece, Italy, Jordan, and Cyprus.
Brilliant praised the Cyprus delegation for braving a particularly inconvenient travel schedule, noting that the route from the island to Washington “is not an easy one; it requires you to make a stopover in Germany.”
“At a time when so many things are being canceled, we have to remember we have to be driven by facts and driven by the fact that we are the holders of the economy,” he said.
