as dr. birol notes in his prepared statement, he says the united states has become the undisputed global oil and gas leader. during my time here on the committee both as ranking member and as chair, we have gone from discussing the needs to site lng import terminals all along our coasts to now expediting lng export terminals. we've gone from lamenting our reliance on foreign oil and the steep price of that oil to the united states being the world's swing producer in an era of abundant energy. technology innovation and the shale revolution have led the way and the administration is working hard to reduce barriers to energy development, allowing for increased exploration and production in the united states as we did at the end of last year with the opening of alaska's 1002 area will provide for long-term security and allow us to expand our influence in world markets. at the same time, we know that these markets are cyclical and prices could rise substantially in the future if we do not take proactiv

dr. birol, i was really interested in the information in your report about how global energy usese expt to increase by, i think it's 30% by 2040, which is the equivalent of adding another china and india to global demand. and also i remember reading that yet they're still significant portions of the world where people don't have access to electricity at all. there's this dramatic effect, the economy in terms of where people are. i'd like to hear your views -- dichotomy -- what countries can do to take advantage of this growth and demand. from a competitors perspective, positioned themselves and their economies, this relates to what you were just talking about, what countries can do to position themselves in their economies so that literally the trillions of dollars that will be invested, technology, countries can be well-positioned to be competitive in that arena. >> thank you very much work when we look at the investments in the next years to come, we see huge investment opportunities, especia