Online, 18 August 2021Ministry of Energy, Brunei Darussalam, hosted the virtual 9th Workshop of the ASEAN+3 Oil Stockpiling Road Map on 18 August 2021. As one of the activities under the SOME+3 EPGG Fora 2021, the workshop aims to serve as a platform for knowledge and best practices exchange on oil stockpiling amongst the ASEAN+3 countries.

“The ASEAN region is one of the major drivers of global economic and oil demand growth, and stockpiling is also established to plan security measures which have proved its effectiveness against sudden and unexpected supply disruption in the past.” Mr. Pengiran Haji Jamra Weira Pengiran Haji Petra, SOE Leader of Brunei Darussalam during his opening remarks.

Referring to the Oil and Gas Report 2021 of ACE, besides the impact of the pandemic, the region’s oil production and the reserve has been declining for the last two decades. Meanwhile, the oil demand is starting to rebound, which causes a price fluctuation in the market. It impacts the security of the oil supply to fuel the economic recovery in ASEAN.

ASEAN is one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing economic regions in the world. Thus, the energy demand is projected to keep growing as well. The 6th ASEAN Energy Outlook (AEO6) projected that oil will continue to dominate the region’s Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES) by 36.9% share in 2040. ASEAN region as a whole is already a net oil importer since 2005 and is vulnerable to oil supply disruption. Therefore, oil stockpiling is considered one of the measures to mitigate the supply disruption in ensuring energy security.

During the Workshop, the ASEAN Plus Three countries shared their current status and progress on their national oil stockpiling programme. Some AMS already has their own Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) system and plans to secure the energy supply in the future, such as regulations regarding on the number of days for reservation in different purpose, allocation of oil for each different needs, and studies concerning the necessity of oil stockpiling and people’s acceptance. However, continuous support from The Plus Three countries (China, Japan, and South Korea) in knowledge exchange and capacity building is still needed.

One of the notable signs of progress is the Department of Energy of the Philippines has recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Japan Oil, Gas, and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) to update the “The 2002 Philippines National Oil Contingency Plan” and identify recommendations for the creation and operation of “The Strategic Petroleum Reserve Program” for the Philippines.

The Workshop is concluded by a roundtable discussion on oil stockpiling development plans and challenges and the potential regional cooperation to advance the development of the oil stockpiling programme.

By Syahira Narizta Syahputri