The capacity building programme on oil energy security for Directors-General of the ASEAN ministries/authorities was successfully conducted on 1 – 4 August 2016 in Tokyo, Japan. The programme was organised by Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) to support the oil stockpiling development in ASEAN. The organiser invited speakers from International Energy Agency (IEA), represented by Mr. Andrew Robertson; the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE), represented by Mr. Septia Buntara Supendi; the ASEAN Council on Petroleum, represented by Ms. Krongkan Khurowat; and Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre, represented by Dr. Kazumoto IRIE. The guest speakers were invited to deliver presentations about oil stockpiling and emergency response, from the ASEAN and global perspectives.

IEA stated that oil stockpiling is a powerful tool to mitigate the impact of an oil supply disruption on the economy. However, emergency oil stocks cannot effectively replace market mechanism since it only mitigates short-term supply disruptions.

ACE concluded that the ASEAN Member States (AMS) are on different levels of development in oil stockpiling capacity. To increase their oil stockpiling capacity in the future, the AMS call for collaboration and support from international organisations and dialogue partners (DPs/IOs). Furthermore, the AMS required policy and regulations to attract direct foreign investment to develop oil stockpiling infrastructures.

The capacity building programme was also attended by 6 (six) AMS, represented by Mr. Socheat Chea, Deputy Director General of Department of Petroleum, Ministry of Mines and Energy of Cambodia; Dr. Somsaath Ounsida, Deputy Director-General of Ministry of Finance of Lao PDR; Mr. Mohd. Sukri Mat Jusoh, Deputy Director of Economic Planning Unit of Malaysia; Mr. Thant Sin, Managing Director of Myanma Petroleum Products Enterprise; Mr. Wisak Watanasap, Deputy Director General of Department of Energy Business Ministry of Energy of Thailand; and Mr. Ngoc Manh Phung, Deputy Director of Oil & Gas Transportation and Processing Department of General Directorate of Energy Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) of Vietnam.

During the programme, JOGMEC arranged a site visit to Kurashiki LPG stockpiling base, a 400,000-tonne LPG underground cavern storage in Okayama.  The participants also visited Kikuma underground crude oil storage base, a 1.3-million-kilo-capacity oil stockpiling in Ehime prefecture, Japan.

A technical expert from Kikuma National Crude Oil Stockpile explained the principles of the water pressure sealing in the granitic underground crude oil stockpile. Credit: ACE

The 4-day programme aims to enhance energy security in ASEAN’s oil and gas sectors, as well as to contribute to the development of emergency response policies in the region. (SBS. Featured image credit:  JOGMEC)