Asian Energy Partnership: Opportunities and Obstacles

When we identify energy challenges, the notion of ‘energy security’ should be defined broadly in the modern context as the need to secure a stable energy supply at a reasonable cost in an environmentally friendly manner. Energy security is not just about ensuring a physical supply of oil, as envisaged after the two ‘oil shocks’ in the 1970s and early 1980s. Since the mid-1980s, international oil markets have evolved and oil supply decisions have been made largely on the basis of price signals in the spot and future markets. Prices rise in a tight market and fall in a glutted market. Compared with the pre-market era (up to the mid-1980s), price volatility has increased in recent years and has also become a target of energy security policy. Also, there has been growing awareness and concern, globally, regionally, and nationally about the environmental impact of energy consumption, especially air pollution from SOx