Crude Summit: Cheney pushes US exports to Europe

The United States should export natural gas to Europe to diminish the region's dependence on Russia, former vice president Dick Cheney said.

It would be a "positive, non-hostile move" and "a good way to put the screws to the Russians," Cheney said at the Argus Americas Crude Summit in Houston.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's desire to control the Baltic nations undermines NATO and Europe and the situation has become more dangerous because of a diminished US military force, he said. Putin's involvement in Syria is also cause for concern as the US has reduced military presence in the Middle East including in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said.

Cheney, a former chairman of Halliburton, was highly critical of the Obama administration's energy policy, including environmental regulations designed to reduce the use of coal such as the Clean Power Plan. The Clean Power Plan requires each state's power sector to meet a CO2 target by 2030, with interim targets for 2022-29.

These regulations will likely be reversed in the next administration, Cheney predicted.

The former vice president also criticized the Obama administration for pursuing a nuclear agreement between western nations and Iran.

"We're doing deals with the devil - the devil being Iran," Cheney said. "If I had my druthers I would have followed through and used force to take out the bulk of the nuclear program some years ago."

He said that Iran was still the lead sponsor of terrorism in the world and that the US has strengthened Iran to the detriment of traditional allies in the region such as Saudi Arabia.

"The fallout is going to be significant," he said. "You have created an enormous stimulus for our traditional friends to develop their own nuclear weapons."

The deal, which took effect earlier this month, allowed for western sanctions to be lifted against Iran, including restrictions on exporting crude.

Iran is planning to raise its oil production and exports by 500,000 b/d in the coming weeks and a further 500,000 b/d in the following six months.

The prospect of increasing Iranian exports has pressured crude markets where benchmark WTI and Ice Brent prices are at their lowest levels in 12 years amid a global oversupply.

Cheney declined to endorse any candidate for president, but remains a politically active critic of the Obama administration. He co-authored a new book with daughter Liz Cheney titled: "Exceptional: Why the World Needs a Powerful America."