By Amy Harder
WASHINGTON--The State Department on Friday named Amos Hochstein
as acting special envoy and coordinator for international energy
affairs, filling the position at a critical time for the Obama
administration's energy diplomacy efforts.
The State Department's Bureau of Energy Resources, which Mr.
Hochstein will now lead, has been working closely with European
nations to help them become less dependent on Russian natural gas.
Unrest in Iraq and other areas of the Middle East has added to
concern about stability of the global oil market.
Mr. Hochstein is replacing special envoy Carlos Pascual, who
announced in June he was stepping down to join the Center on Global
Energy Policy, a research organization at Columbia University
founded last year by Jason Bordoff, a former top adviser to
President Barack Obama. Mr. Pascual, a former U.S. ambassador to
Ukraine had held the position since May 2011.
The rise in domestic oil and natural gas production, which has
made the U.S. the biggest producer of both fuels, has changed
energy markets throughout the world, Mr. Hochstein testified at a
congressional hearing this week.
"This overall sea change in U.S. energy balances has had
significant international energy market implications as vast
quantities of imported energy once destined for the United States
are now consumed elsewhere in the world markets," he said Tuesday
in prepared testimony at a Senate hearing on how energy and climate
change fuel global conflict.
Mr. Hochstein will also likely be more involved in helping shape
the administration's strategy on Russia, though this week he
declined to say how energy may factor more into any strategy.
He noted that in the additional sanctions Mr. Obama announced
last week, three major Russian energy companies were targeted: the
state-controlled Rosneft, Russia's biggest oil producer; OAO
Novatek, the second-biggest gas company; and OAO Gazprombank, the
bank connected with the country's gas-export monopoly.
"I think it should be clear where we are today, and the fact
that there are effects already in the energy sector," Mr. Hochstein
said after Tuesday's hearing. "Where we go from here, is really
going to depend on Russia's actions."
Mr. Hochstein, who has been deputy assistant secretary for
energy diplomacy at the State Department since November 2011, has
advised several Democrats throughout his career, including former
Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and then-Virginia Gov. Mark Warner,
who is now a senator. He also spent several years working for
Cassidy & Associates, a Washington, D.C., government-relations
firm. His new position is effective Aug. 1.
Write to Amy Harder at amy.harder@wsj.com
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