Energy Department Trade Missions

The Energy Department (DOE) conducts trade missions to help develop energy markets abroad. DOE has reported the results of these trips on the basis of the value of the business agreements signed. The agency cited nearly $20 billion in potential and finalized agreements signed during the Energy Secretary's four trade missions and follow-up trips, and it later reported more than $2 billion in finalized deals. In reviewing the finalized deals, GAO found that in some cases, U.S. exports appeared to be substantially less than 50 percent of the projects' total estimated exports. Company representatives that participated in the missions generally supported the Secretary's efforts and the resulting intangible benefits, such as greater credibility, access, and acceleration of projects. Several company officials said that their business agreements would have been completed without DOE involvement. In addition, several management weaknesses plague the DOE trade mission program. DOE process for acquiring aircraft; recovering expenses from, and approving travel for, nonfederal travelers; and documenting U.S. embassy expenses was weak. New procedures have been introduced to correct these shortcomings, but they have yet to be fully tested in practice.