Romania, USA Sign Energy Agreement

WASHINGTON -- Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham has announced that the United States and Romania forged an agreement on cooperation in the development of the Romanian energy sector, the US Energy Department says in a release to the Romanian news agency Rompres.

Abraham and Romanian Minister of Industry and Resources Dan Ioan Popescu signed in Washington on Tuesday a declaration of intent on cooperation in industry. The US energy secretary hailed the fact that "Romania has implemented an energy strategy that makes it less dependent on foreign deliveries, while making better use of its own resources."

He said he was looking forward for US businesses to gain full access to investments and trade from the Romanian government, which makes efforts to create a competitive investment climate.

The agreement signed on Tuesday targets cooperation in information exchange and it searches for possibilities of cooperation in numerous fields from research in energy issues to methods of environmental protection.

The Romanian electricity, natural gas and oil sectors have significant investment potential for the United States and Romania continues the privatization of the energy sector, the release says.

BBC Monitoring European - Political