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The papers in these workshops represent the personal views of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of their companies, organisations or the IEA.

International Conference: the Challenges of a Changing International Energy Market
Location and date(s) of workshop:	Vienna: 8 November 2007
Organiser(s):	Energy Charter Secretariat in cooperation with the International Energy Agency and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour
Background:	Ensuring the sustainability and reliability of the global energy economy is a matter of increasing concern. Prices have risen and have become more volatile, reliance upon internationally traded energy is increasing, and there are fears that the speed of resource development and investments along the energy value chain may not be sufficient to meet future demand at affordable price. The lack of a consensus about specific policies to address climate change raises questions about the development path of fossil fuels and the role of specific fossil fuels. In meeting these challenges, a first step is to recognise the ways that international energy markets are changing and to understand the underlying reasons. This Conference, organised by the Energy Charter Secretariat in cooperation with the International Energy Agency and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour, is designed to contribute to such an understanding by bringing together senior representatives of governments, international organisations, industry and other stakeholders. The Conference will analyse the interplay between different forces affecting international relations in the energy sector; national sovereignty over energy resources and decisions over access to and depletion of these resources, the roles of state-owned and international private energy companies, the emergence of new demand centres, the operation and evolution of markets and of different pricing mechanisms (long-term contracts, liquid markets, new forms of vertical integration in the LNG market), and the impact of movement towards a low-carbon and more efficient energy future. The overall aim is to answer the question: how can we ensure that policies of producer and consumer states and the frameworks for the international trade of energy provide reliable signals that can guide future long-term decisions on resource depletion, investment and market design?
Links to relevant documents:	For more information see Energy Charter Secretariat website.