The world energy system is undergoing a far reaching transition in which three agendas collide: an economic agenda of supply and demand and of national competitiveness; a security agenda reflecting strategic dependence on trade in oil and gas; and a sustainability agenda now centred on the search for a low-carbon energy mix. Rapid growth in emerging and developing economies adds urgency to this triple agenda while the oil-and-gas-renaissance in North America challenges a number of accepted tenets on the future energy mix. How this triple agenda is addressed will have a major influence on global economic growth, on trade flows, on the state of the planet, and on the relative wealth and power of nations. This paper by Albert Bressand explores the way governments define their policy priorities in this new context.