HOUSTON, March 8 (Xinhua) -- It seems the Ukraine crisis was just on everyone's tongue when CERAWeek, an annual global energy conference, kicked off early this week in Houston, the largest city of U.S. energy state Texas, amid global oil turmoil as crude prices hit a new high since the 2008 financial storm.
"People must now live with higher energy costs for a time," warned U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry in his opening remarks, adding that sanctions on Russia have costs.
Russia is the world's second-largest oil exporter behind Saudi Arabia. Brent crude, a global benchmark, briefly surpassed 139 U.S. dollars on Monday and closed above 123 dollars.
Moscow has criticized the U.S. blanket ban on all Russia oil imports, warning it could have global repercussions.
It was obvious that "the rejection of our resources will lead to significant fluctuations in the global energy markets. It will negatively affect the interests of companies and consumers, primarily in the United States itself," according to a statement by the Russian embassy in Washington.
Russia Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Monday Russia has been "fully fulfilling all its obligations" regarding energy trade, and oil and oil products are being shipped to European markets as planned.
The world does not have enough oil-production capacity to replace Russia's share in global crude exports, Mohammad Barkindo, secretary-general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, told reporters at the CERAWeek.
"The impacts are being felt around the world, and our industry," Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods said at the conference, noting the Ukraine crisis "underscores the need for global energy security."
"We're going to see tough times ahead," Woods said, referring to turbulence and international backlash over the Ukraine crisis.
Facing the world's soaring oil demand, Woods said Exxon is to maximize its production, especially in the Permian Basin, located in the southwestern part of the United States, with significant equipment changes.
John Hess, the CEO of Hess, urged the U.S. government to release more oil reserves to stabilize the world energy market and meet the huge gap between supply and demand.
"The 60 million barrels that was announced is too little," Hess said at a Monday panel titled "Competitive Landscape and Energy Transition," noting the sum only makes up 4 percent of the country's strategic stocks.
The International Energy Agency announced earlier that its member countries had agreed to release 60 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves to ease any supply shortfall caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
It is time that the United States released 120 million barrels out of the strategic reserves in the world and committed to doing another 100 million barrels next month and promised more is coming if needed, said Hess, urging the White House to "move very quickly now."
Cheniere CEO Jack Fusco said oil and gas prices are soaring to unsustainable levels, which will impact the energy transition. All of his company's LNG production, which is being "maxed out," is now diverted to Europe, whereas Asia was the primary destination before the Ukraine crisis.
Looking into the prospect of the global energy market, Fusco said, "I think the turbulence has only just begun."
"Energy and economic upheaval are reverberating across the economy. We haven't seen anything of this dimension since the 1970s," said Daniel Yergin, S&P Global Vice Chairman, a well-known oil historian, when opening the five-day forum.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of CERAWeek, one of the largest and most influential global energy forums, with over 850 speakers and more than 400 attendees from more than 80 countries and areas, the latest data from the organizers show. ■