Washington (Platts)--7Apr2009

Energy Secretary Steven Chu on Tuesday said he was undecided on promoting
the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel, saying that it could put a
strain on supplies for industrial uses.

"I am agnostic about it," Chu told reporters on the sidelines of an
energy conference sponsored by the Energy Information Administration, the data
arm of the Department of Energy.

While it is a possibility to use natural gas more broadly for
transportation, Chu said the use of transportation fuel in general should be
reduced through increased fuel efficiency.

Chu's comments come amid a long-term campaign by former oil man T. Boone
Pickens to promote the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel. Pickens
has brought some powerful people, such as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid,
Democrat-Nevada, to his side in those and other efforts to increase use of
renewable sources of electricity.

Chu also said it was important to look at alternative transportation
fuels, such as advanced biofuels.

"I don't know which one will win. I think we could look at both," Chu
said."Remember, if we significantly shift our transportation to use natural
gas, that will put a strain on natural gas for industrial uses, for heating
and electricity generation. So, again, it is a complicated issue."

Before becoming energy secretary earlier this year, Chu was the director
of DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he helped start a
$500-million center devoted to biofuels.

--Derek Sands, derek_sands@platts.com