U.S. mulls financing mechanisms for energy projects in Turkey

"The U.S. is committed to the westward flow of the Caspian energy resources and recognizes Turkey plays a very important role in this regard... The U.S. government is ready to provide tangible support for the energy sector working in partnership with the Turkish government," Jeffrey Kupfer, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy, told a group of journalists on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on Europe and Central Asia on Thursday.

Kupfer is leading a high-level American delegation including Robert Mosbacher, the president of the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation, John McAdams, COO of U.S. Export-Import Bank and Larry Walther, the director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.

The delegation had met Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and Energy Minister Hilmi Guler "to discuss these issues and ways to diversify Turkey's energy mix and to promote Turkey's role as a strategic energy transit corridor," Kupfer said.

The officials said the U.S. has a long history of doing business in Turkey in energy projects and wants to continue such partnerships.

"The U.S. also wants to establish more efficient and productive financing mechanism to support Turkish energy projects. Especially in the light of the global financial situation having those mechanisms in place is even more important," Kupfer said.

The Turkish government's attitude to efforts on trying to work different ways of financing mechanisms was "very receptive", he added.

Mosbacher said the U.S. government is willing to support investments in energy efficiency and wind energy, as well as hydro power, as the areas that they are interested.

"My colleagues from Eximbank have financed $1.6 billion in power projects in Turkey. Our agency has done $500 million worth of projects in Turkey. So we have some experience and we are interested in finding ways to do more and support the government," he added.