This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS KUWAIT 000462 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
LONDON FOR TSOU 
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY FOR IE 
EB/ESC/IEC FOR GALLOGLY, DOWDY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG EPET ECON BEXP KU OIL SECTOR
SUBJECT: SOTU REACTION: KUWAIT OIL ANALYST COMMENTS ON 
"ADDICTION TO OIL" 
 
This cable is sensitive but unclassified; please protect 
accordingly.  Not for Internet distribution. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Econ Officer met February 8 with Kamel Harami, a 
well-connected oil analyst and former KPC employee, to 
discuss the recent State of the Union (SOTU) speech, and 
specifically the President's statements about oil and energy 
issues.  Harami asked Econ Officer to further explain the 
"addiction to oil" comment and the Advanced Energy Initiative 
(AEI) from the President's address.  He said that there is 
significant interest here in Kuwait and throughout the region 
in this statement, and said that he is getting many inquiries 
from the press to offer his comments on this.  He said that 
his and others' concern is that, if there is a plan to phase 
out 75% of U.S. reliance on Middle Eastern oil, this appears 
to contradict recent calls by the U.S. for increased 
investment and expansion of production capacity by OPEC 
members. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Econ Officer referred Harami to the specific 
language in the SOTU speech and the White House press release 
on the AEI, and said that further clarification was expected 
from Washington soon.  During the meeting, satellite TV 
channel CNBC Arabic called Harami on his mobile phone for a 
live interview on this topic.  His comments to them were 
along the lines of "let's wait for more clarification", but 
he emphasized to Econ Officer after the interview that there 
is a pressing need for the USG to clarify this statement in 
light of its apparent contradiction to earlier statements 
urging increasing production in the region. 
 
******************************************** 
Visit Embassy Kuwait's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ 
******************************************** 
LeBaron