The US-Ukrainian Energy Dialogue Series began as a follow up to a notion first broached by US Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman, who, during his visit to Kyiv in the summer of 2005, stressed the need for a serious set of discussions, formal and informal, on energy issues between the appropriate governmental, non-governmental and corporate representatives of the United States and Ukraine.

Senator Richard Lugar, in his keynote address to Ukraine's Quest RT VI [September 2005] restated Secretary Bodman's initiative and challenged the RT organizers to organize "a US-UA energy forum" by promising to help with an appropriate venue on Capitol Hill. The RT organizers got to work immediately and with two months, the US-Ukrainian Energy Dialogue Series was born.

Four such forums have now been held: the inaugural event in Washington DC, in Nov 2006, a very popular follow-up in Houston, in May 2006, a return event in DC in 2008, featuring an important keynote by the patron of the Series, Sen. Lugar, and a recent gathering held in Kyiv (December 2012) to highlight Ukraine's need to seek 'energy independence'.

Major Western energy and energy related concerns that have participated in the stated gatherings include: Cardinal Resources, AES, Northland Power, Holtec, Hunt Oil, Aspect Energy, Vanco, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Shell, Westinghouse, Hitachi America, Safeguards Inc., Allied Technologies Group, Halliburton, PFC Energy, Devon, Marathon Oil, Trident Oil.