Some nations are using energy for 'malign ends' and are not promoting prosperity as the U.S., America's top diplomatic said Tuesday.
To promote prosperity, Mike Pompeo suggested other countries should create partnerships with the Trump administration to "punish bad actors" in the oil industry such as China.
Pompeo's remarks came during his keynote speech in Houston on the second day of IHS CERAWeek 2019, one of the world's most renowned energy conferences.
He referred to China's "illegal island-building" in the South China Sea and said international water waste "isn't simply a national security matter."
"China prevents ASEAN members from accessing more than $2.5 trillion recoverable energy resources," he said. "To contrast, the United States government promotes energy security for those Southeast Asian nations. We want countries in the region to have access to their own energy … to create partnerships.
"We want transparent transactions, not death traps. We explore responsibly," Pompeo stressed.
Pompeo also said the Bashar al Assad regime covets oil fields to the east of the Euphrates River in Syria. "[Assad] wants those resources, he wants those wealth to continue to impoverish the people of Syria and use those resources for himself and the cronies who are around him," he said.
Pompeo criticized Iran for its energy exports to use its influence in the Middle East, particularly Iraq, saying "there could not have been more of a contrast about how America uses energy resources than how the leaders of the Islamic government of Iran use theirs."
"We have every intention of driving Iranian oil exports to zero just as quickly as we can," he added.
