The ASEAN+3 (Three = China, Japan, South Korea) Energy Fora and Meetings were successfully conducted on 23-25 May 2017 in Manila, the Philippines. The Fora consisted of the 5^th Oil Market and Natural Gas Forum and Business Dialogue, 6^th Oil Stockpiling Workshop, and the 13^th Energy Security Forum. Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, National Energy Agency (NEA) of China, Ministry of Economy and Trade (METI) of Japan, and Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI) attended the fora. Also in attendance, were the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) as secretariat of the ASEAN+3 Fora and Meetings, ASEAN Council on Petroleum (ASCOPE), Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Ltd (KHNP).

At the 6^th Oil Market and Natural Gas Forum and Business Dialogue, the Meeting discussed about the continuation of regional efforts in developing a new concept for liquefied natural gas (LNG) market. ASCOPE’s experts, Mr. Paramate Hoisungwan, discussed the concept of LNG destination flexibility which allows LNG to be delivered to any LNG receiving terminals in ASEAN without restriction. ASCOPE highlighted the potential benefits of LNG Destination Flexibility both for the sellers and the buyers.

The 5^th Oil Stockpiling Roadmap (OSRM) Workshop, chaired by the Philippine DOE and co-chaired by METI of Japan discussed the status of OSRM development among ASEAN+3 Members. In the last session of the workshop, ACE led the discussion to collect the updates on recent policies and on Oil Stockpiling Development from ASEAN and Plus Three countries. The Workshop’s conclusions include the following key items: i) ASEAN needs more capacity enhancement on oil stock management – regulation & mechanism to support the acceleration of OSRM development; ii) policy and regulation are required to attract foreign direct investment to develop infrastructures; and iii) the region needs to conduct a comprehensive study on the viability of maintaining a strategic oil stockpile.

The 14^th ASEAN+3 Energy Security Forum (ESF) chaired by the Philippine DOE and co-chaired by China, Japan and Korea, discussed the recent updates on oil, gas, coal and nuclear in ASEAN+3 countries. The Forum welcomed initiatives in developing s joint study and implementing capacity building activities for the promotion and implementation of clean coal technologies. (SBS.  Featured photo credit: the Philippine DOE)