Towards a National Energy Policy for the Bahamas

by Larry Smith

For the past couple of years - as fuel prices have soared - government has talked about formulating a national energy policy to help minimise economic and social disruption in the event of a global energy crisis.

The need for such a policy was recently underlined by a major new report from the US National Petroleum Council, which listed some "hard truths" about the global energy future over the next 25 years. The Financial Times of London described the report as "a defining moment in the history of the global energy industry."

That's because the NPC is not some idealistic green lobby. It's a privately funded government advisory body that represents the views of the oil and gas industry. And the current chairman is Lee Raymond, a former chief of ExxonMobil.

"Accumulating risks to the supply of reliable, affordable energy require an integrated national strategy," the NPC report said, adding that any policy to address those risks had to balance economic, security and environmental goals.