Energy Ministers from the Group of Eight developed countries (G8) have met to discuss possible ways of ensuring steady oil and gas supplies at reasonable prices. The two-day meeting that was concluded yesterday in Rome, Italy, was also attended by Rwanda’s State Minister in charge of Energy, Engineer Albert Butare. “We’ve just concluded successfully the meeting here in Rome,” he said in a phone interview with The New Times yesterday, promising to give full details about the outcomes of the meeting upon his arrival in Kigali today. Germany’s Deutsche Welle Radio reported yesterday that the Rome meeting aimed to draft a joint energy strategy, which would be presented to a G-8 leader’s summit, scheduled for July this year in L’Aquila, Italy. The G-8 group brings together world super powers that include the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Canada and Russia. Besides these and representatives of international energy companies, the meeting was also attended by countries that were described as “emerging energy powers,” and the list includes Australia, Brazil, Algeria, China, Indonesia, South Africa, India, South Korea, Libya, Mexico, Egypt, Nigeria, Rwanda and Saudi Arabia. Rwanda was recognised for the Methane gas that is being extracted from Kivu, a project upon completion is expected to solve reasonably the problem of energy. The extraction of the methane gas is expected to boost Rwanda’s energy sector by producing at least 100 Mega Watts of electricity. Ends
