APEC Oil and Gas

Security Newsletter

Your Organization October 2015 Issue No. 6

CRUDE OIL SPOT PRICE

WTI—USD 45.91 (Oct. 19) Source : US Energy Information Administration

In this issue

Indonesia’s Surprising Return to OPEC and Its Reasons ............................................. 1

Sign of Change in Oil Market ................. 2

Middle East Update ............................... 3

Economic Slowdown in China and Window of Opportunity for Potential LNG Importers ............................................................... 3

Interview with Prof. Dr. I Gusti Nyoman Wiratmaja Puja ..................................... 4

The Energy Reform in Mexico: Implications for Asia-Pacific Region .......................... 6

LNG Producers-Consumers Conference 2015

............................................................... 7

Highlights

Upcoming Event :2nd OGSN Forum

Upcoming Event :OGSE in the Philippines

Crude Oil Spot Price (WTI and Brent)

Natural Gas Spot Price (Henry Hub)

Photo Story

Indonesia’s Surprising Return to OPEC and Its Reasons

On 8 September 2015, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting

Countries (OPEC) officially announced that Indonesia, which used to be

one the organization’s pioneer members but suspended its member-

ship of the organization on 1 January 2009, reactivated its membership.

Indonesia will be invited to OPEC regular meeting on 4 December 2015.

Indonesia has been a net oil importer since 2003 hence it may seem

odd that the country recovers its membership with the organization of

oil exporters. But there exist several reasons that justify the country’s

return to the organization.

First, by restoring its membership of OPEC, Indonesia will have

more opportunities to deepen relationships with core oil producers in

Middle East such as Saudi Arabia or UAE. Import dependence of the

country has been steadily increasing and closer ties with OPEC member

countries will help ensure a stable oil supply for Indonesia. Indonesia in

fact plans to expand its refining capacity and will need to procure addi-

tional crude oil to feed into the new capacity. Furthermore, by being an

“insider” of OPEC discussions, it will also improve the country’s market

intelligence in the international crude oil market.

OPEC also has good reasons to invite Indonesia. As oil demand in

developed countries will continue to shrink, how to ensure another

market “outlet” for their crude oil is of critical concern for all oil export-

ers. OPEC countries will have an advantage in marketing its crude oil to

Indonesia against non-OPEC oil exporters such as Russia. Another po-

tential reason for OPEC is to expand its role in international oil market.

OPEC ceased to set country-wise oil production quotas since December

2011. Internal competition among member countries over market

share has become intensified and its solidarity and influence to the

market is perceived as weakened. Including a rising oil importer like

Indonesia may reinvent its function as another oil producer-consumer

dialogue platform. (next page)

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Indonesia’s ….

While the impact of Indonesia’s return to OPEC is still unknown,

having a closer relationship between oil importers and exporters, re-

gardless what kind of means to be adopted, is always important for oil

supply security. It is expected that Indonesia’s return to OPEC will con-

tribute to the stable oil supply to the country.

NATURAL GAS SPOT PRICE

“...If the result of this in-

cident becomes full-

scale , diesel oil demand

will probably be pushed

down substantially in a

longer perspective.”

Henry Hub—USD 2.43 (Oct. 19) Source : US Energy Information Administration

Sign of Change in Oil Market

Recently, we heard two interesting news reports in the oil market.

The first one is relevant to oil demand in United Kingdom (UK) and the

other is the scandal on Volkswagen cars.

UK has experienced peaking of oil demand in 2005 but afterwards

demand has been decreasing just as many other OECD countries have.

However, during the first half of 2015, oil demand rose to 1.6% com-

pared to the same period last year which was the fastest pace ever

since 2005. It can be explained that the strong economic growth and

cheap oil price have contributed to the recovery of oil demand. After

the oil crisis in 1970s, OECD countries have succeeded in reducing oil

dependency through changing their energy supply structure and im-

proving energy efficiency. In addition, global society has been urging the

move against climate change. Low oil price is a good remedy for oil im-

porting countries in removing the pain caused by high fuel prices from

their economy. However, if the recent low oil prices also slow down

necessary action to enhance energy security, we may suffer badly from

its side effects in the future.

Another story is about the incident with Volkswagen cars which is

also relevant to oil industry, particularly the refining sector. The

cheating incident on the emission test of diesel car may possibly move

some people away from buying diesel cars. If the result of this incident

becomes full-scale , diesel oil demand will probably be pushed down

substantially in a longer perspective. This development in the business

environment will adversely affect the refining sector, particularly in Eu-

rope where there is a long history of policy support and preference for

diesel car rather than gasoline car.

These two interesting news are not evidences nor proof that would

alter long term trend. However, it could possibly turn out to be a sign of

change of future oil market.

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Editor’s Note:

Indonesia is called “ economy” in APEC. But since, this article covers OPEC matters ,

Indonesia is referred to as “ country” as OPEC called its members “country”.

“...this slowdown by itself is

having a significant impact

on the supply side.”

3

Middle East Update—Current Situation of Piracy

in the Indian Ocean

According to the statistics of the International Chamber of

Commerce, there were no reports on piracy and armed rob-

bery in the Gulf of Oman, the Arabian Sea, and the Gulf of

Aden since the end of September 2014. Naval forces of the

international coalition for anti-piracy, CTF 151, have played a

key role in patrolling and escorting commercial ships to safe-

guard them from Somali pirates.

On the 8th of October 2015, European Union Chair of the

Contact Group of Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CFPCS) has

announced that piracy High Risk Area (HRA) in the Indian

Ocean will be reduced from December 1st to reflect the cur-

rent situation. However, coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula

except for the Gulf of Oman will still be included within the

HRA. Thus, we should keep monitoring the developments of

the region, not only about the Horn of Africa, but also on Yem-

en where currently the emerging conflict between the Yemeni

transitional government, Arab coalition forces, the armed

group known as Houthis, and the terrorist group AQAP are

taking place.

It is important to note that instability of this region may

bring new challenges to maritime security.

Economic Slowdown in China and Window of

Opportunity for Potential LNG Importers

While world financial market was shaken by the deval-

uation of renminbi and stock market collapse in China, it is

increasingly clear that natural gas demand in China is also

slowing down. The demand growth for the past decade was

as high as 16% per annum, but the demand in May-June

2015 was actually lower on a year-on-year basis, which has

not happened for a long time in China.

Background of this demand slump is of course primari-

ly economic uncertainty in China. But it is also about com-

petitiveness of natural gas being eroded against coal and

oil products. In recent months, there seem to have cases

where natural gas is switched back to coal or oil products,

which is extremely rare in other major natural gas consum-

ing countries. Indeed, at LNG Producer-Consumer Confer-

ence on September 16, a speaker from China National Pe-

troleum Corporation- Economic and Technology Research

Institute admitted that natural gas demand in China might

not reach 300 bcm in 2020, let alone the government tar-

get of 360 bcm, without strong government support.

Since China will be the demand engine of natural gas

in the coming decades, this slowdown by itself is having a

significant impact on the supply side. It is no surprise that

China National Offshore Oil Corporation and Sinopec might

not be able to lift contracted LNG from Australia. Natural

gas demand in Japan and Korea, the largest LNG importers,

is weak too. We are in the middle of LNG project rush,

mainly in Australia and the US. For potential LNG importers

in APEC region, this is a rare window of opportunity to in-

troduce LNG and benefit from cleaner fossil fuel.

Map of Gulf of Aden

Photo Source—European Union

The Gulf of Aden is an extension of the Indian Ocean. Located between

Africa and Asia, it forms the natural separation between the countries of

Somalia and Yemen. Gulf of Aden waters flow into the Red Sea through

the Bab el Mandeb (strait), and because it provides an outlet to the west

for Persian Gulf Oil, it's now one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. In

that regard, piracy is a major problem in these waters, especially for

small sailboats and yachts.

Photo Story Source : worldatlas.com

4

Prof. Dr. I Gusti Nyoman Wiratmaja Puja

Director General of Oil and Gas

Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources

Indonesia

IGN Wiratmadja graduated from Mechanical Engi-

neering, Bandung Technology Institute in 1987. He

received Master of Science in Engineering Mechanics

from University of Kentucky, U.S.A (1994), Doctor of

Philosophy in Engineering Mechanics, University of

Kentucky, U.S.A (1996), Post Doctoral in Mechanics of

Solid & Materials, Dept. of Mechanical and Intelligent

Systems Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology,

Japan (2000) and Post Doctoral in Smart Materials &

Structures, School of Aerospace, Mechanical and

Mechatronics Eng., University of Sydney, Australia

(2002).

Interview with Prof. Dr. I Gusti Nyoman Wiratmaja Puja IGN Wiratmadja was appointed Director General of Oil and Gas in Indonesia’s

Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in May 2015. He is also a professor at

Bandung Technology Institute. APERC is honoured to have him for the Interview

with the Expert.

APERC—What are the main challenges that you encountered in the devel-

opment of oil and gas in Indonesia? How do you overcome the challenges?

Pak IGN Wiaratmaja—The main challenges in Indonesia’s oil and gas devel-

opment these days are divided by upstream, downstream, and supporting

sector. The upstream sector’s problems include the decreasing of oil and

gas reserves where there’s no new discovery of proven reserve for 11 years

and also high capital cost due to development in deep water areas.

The proven oil reserve in Indonesia is about 3.7 billion barrel with reserve

to production ratio is about 11.9. Meanwhile, gas reserve in Indonesia is

about 101 TCF with reserve to production ratio 39.2. To solve the above

issues, Indonesian government has established National Exploration Com-

mittee to identify the efforts in increasing the national oil and gas reserve

and production. The National Exploration Committee has given suggestions

and inputs to Indonesian Government related to the efforts to stimulate oil

and gas exploration activity in Indonesia. Among these efforts are im-

proving seismic data quality, giving exploration incentive, eliminating ex-

ploration tax, and simplifying exploration permit. In addition, the efforts to

increase the national oil and gas production are by utilizing Enhanced Oil

Recovery technology and publishing policy on mature well management.

In the downstream, the increasing of oil and gas demand along with the

increasing of economic growth makes the development of infrastructure

necessary, however the oil and gas infrastructure development is not dis-

tributed evenly and also lack of infrastructure in eastern area of Indonesia.

Thirteen years the enforcement of Oil and Gas Law No. 22 year 2001, Indo-

nesian Government experienced the slow development of national oil and

gas infrastructure. The investment for infrastructure development is rela-

tively low, while the commercial business entities without facility tend to

increase significantly. Nowadays, Indonesian Government is improving its

national oil and gas management to promote massive infrastructure de-

velopment particularly in eastern part of Indonesia. On the other hand, the

government is also promoting the utilization of LNG as second primary

energy i.e. power plants, transportation, marine, and other industries.

In addition, we have also a problem in manufacturing industry where it’s

not yet developed as expected by the government of Indonesia. Indone-

sia’s essential component manufacturing industry should grow (next page)

5

Interview ….

and meet the Indonesia’s oil and gas industry demand. Thus,

the dependency on equipment’s import decreased.

The issue of permit in oil and gas investment has become

one of the factors the slowing national oil and gas invest-

ment. To overcome this issue, Indonesian Government has

managed and maintained the oil and gas permit scheme. The

permit simplification in oil and gas sector is conducted by

decreasing the number of permits from 104 permits to 42

permits. Furthermore, Investment Coordinating Board

(BKPM) now manages the permit process in oil and gas sec-

tor in one stop service. Indonesian Government hopes that

this one stop service will ease the investor in processing in-

vestment permit in oil and gas sector.

APERC—What can you say about the Government’s decision

of removing subsidies on diesel and gasoline?

Pak IGN Wiaratmaja—In Indonesia, gasoline and diesel are

Public Service Obligation (PSO) fuel. In 2014, the gasoline

consumption is about 29.6 million KL and solar consumption

is about 19.6 million KL. The PSO fuel consumption con-

sisting of about 50% gasoline and 35% diesel is fulfilled by

importing the fuel. The fuel import tends to affect the stabil-

ity of Rupiah exchange rate since dollar is used in fuel import

transaction. The fuel subsidy allocated in 2014 reached of

about 246 trillion rupiah. This has burdened the state budg-

et. The policy to eliminate subsidy for gasoline and to reduce

subsidy for diesel are ways to manage the government fiscal.

Besides that, Indonesian Government also identifies that

these subsidies do not meet the target. The subsidies are

enjoyed by the middle and upper class society. Saving from

removing or reducing the subsidies will be shifted to infra-

structure development such as roads, bridges, dams, ports,

airports and increase social welfare. The elimination of fuel

subsidy will also increase the utilization of new and renewa-

ble energy.

Although the government has eliminated and reduced the

subsidy for PSO fuel including gasoline and diesel, it does not

mean that the fuel price will follow the market price. PT Per-

tamina (Persero) as state owned company, which is assigned

to supply and distribute PSO fuel, should determine the price

based on the government’s decision. In determining PSO

fuel price, the government considers the international oil

market price, fuel distribution cost, and taxes. Every three

months, the government reviews the fuel price policy for the

sake of justice for people. Besides that, the review will help

PT Pertamina (Persero) to avoid financial loss in supplying

and distributing PSO fuel when international oil market expe-

rienced price volatility.

APERC—I understand Indonesia has decided to join OPEC

again, what triggers the decision? Will it be beneficial to In-

donesia?

Pak IGN Wiaratmaja—Indonesia’s decision to reactivate its

membership in OPEC is based on many considerations. We

have identified the benefits of being a member of OPEC. The

cooperation enhancement through multilateral organization

such as OPEC for Indonesia gives the benefits in the areas of

economy, politics, international peace and security, social

and culture, as well as humanity. At present, Indonesia is still

exporting oil, condensate, and gas. The oil and condensate

export in 2014 reached 109.9 million barrel. By gaining our

membership in OPEC, it shows that Indonesia has come back

in the networking with oil producer countries and tightens its

friendship with OPEC member countries. OPEC has given

about 42% contribution in the world oil market. It means

that the oil supply and price in international market are still

highly influenced by OPEC. Furthermore, with the member-

ship of Indonesia in OPEC will definitely increase OPEC bar-

gaining position in global oil market. It is expected that there

will be good networking between OPEC member countries to

help each other in securing oil supply. Indonesia will take

initial position in OPEC to create petroleum security agree-

ment. This will be beneficial in helping OPEC member coun-

tries in case of oil supply emergency.

Moreover, Indonesia is the only Asian country in OPEC that

will be able to increase its bargaining position and put itself

as the mediator in global energy politics. Above this all, Indo-

nesia would like to secure our national interest in our nation-

al energy security. We would like to be more active in OPEC’s

activities especially in formulating the policy.

APERC—You were not able to participate in the (next page)

6

The Energy Reform in Mexico: Implications for Asia-Pacific Region

In December 2013, Mexican congress passed Constitu-

tional amendments which allow foreign or private companies

to participate across the entire value chain of Mexico’s oil,

gas, and electricity industries. The main objectives of the re-

form are to promote exploration and production in order to

expand the domestic production, refining and distribution of

oil and gas; to increase the private investment in these activi-

ties; and to lower electricity tariffs.

The government has implemented the reform steadily;

the secondary bill to implement the reform was passed by

congress in August 2014. Mexico’s Energy Ministry an-

nounced the areas for exploration and production that re-

main under the control of PEMEX as a result of the company’s

request at the ‘Round Zero’. In December 2014, SENER an-

nounced the tender for its first oil blocks in shallow water

areas under a production-sharing regime, namely the ‘Round

One’.

Despite these milestones, the settings of the global ener-

gy market are not so favorable. The dramatic fall in crude oil

prices, which halved in only six months starting from June

2014 is curtailing many upstream projects, including those in

Mexico. More importantly, the United States, Mexico’s main

traditional destination for crude exports, is progressively

more self-sufficient due to its growing domestic production

from shale formations.

As a net exporter of crude oil but a net importer of oil

products and natural gas, Mexico faces many (next page)

Interview ….

LNG Producer-Consumer Conference 2015, but what do you

expect about the Conference? If ever, will you consider par-

ticipating next time?

Pak IGN Wiaratmaja—The LNG Producer-Consumer Confer-

ence is one of the outstanding gas forums in the world. Our

record shows that in 2015’s event, the conference has

attracted more than 1000 participants and more than 50 pro-

ducer and consumer countries. It was also attended by vari-

ous government officials, CEOs, and energy analysts. The

Ministry of Economic, Trade and Industry Japan and APERC

had become the successful host of this conference. As you

may know, the gas market in Indonesia is now in transition

phase in which the gas is prioritized for domestic consump-

tion. Now Indonesia is planning to import LNG. We put our

hope upon the views and thoughts in this conference. Your

thoughts will be very fruitful to us in obtaining comprehen-

sive information regarding LNG market dynamic in Asia and

global market. I do hope that the outcomes of this confer-

ence will become references for stakeholders in global LNG

market.

APERC—What is your impression on the APEC Oil and Gas

Security Initiative, which is being conducted by APERC? Is it

useful to APEC in addressing oil and gas supply security?

Pak IGN Wiaratmaja—As you may know, at present Indone-

sia is giving its highest concern on setting up national energy

security concept. The national energy security is closely re-

lated with regional energy security. A number of internation-

al cooperation enhancements have been conducted through

bilateral and multilateral relationship by Indonesia to support

the national energy security. APEC Oil and Gas Security Initia-

tive is in line with Indonesia international cooperation mis-

sion especially in oil and gas sector. We have identified that

the issue in national oil and gas strategic reserve is still the

main problem to be solved. In this regard, Indonesia realizes

that the policy on national oil and gas reserve must be formu-

lated properly. At present, Indonesia has the target to in-

crease its national fuel operational reserve up to 30 days.

This requires benchmarking to other countries and experi-

enced institutions in developing national fuel reserve. The

role of APERC in conducting APEC Oil and Gas Security Initia-

tive should be appreciated as the effort in sharing infor-

mation to APEC member countries on how to manage energy

security especially oil and gas security in each country.

Photo and Photo Story

Mexico’s Planned Shale Gas Tender

Photo Source : SENER

Round One will assign eight exploratory blocks of dry

gas over a total area of 900 square kilometres located in

the Sabinas-Burro-Picachos basin in Mexico’s Coahuila

State.

Photo Story Source: APERC’s Pathways to Shale Gas

Development in Asia-Pacific

“...opens the possibility for

Mexico to strengthen its

role as an exporter of oil

and probably of gas too,

to serve the Asia-Pacific

markets. “

7

The Energy Reform ….

challenges in the aftermath of its energy reform. On one hand, the

reform is expected to expand domestic oil and gas production in

the medium and long term, which opens the possibility for Mexico

to strengthen its role as an exporter of oil and probably of gas too,

to serve the Asia-Pacific markets. On the other hand, the steady

growth in Mexico’s domestic energy demand calls for a reliable

and stable supply that is competitively-priced in order to support

robust economic growth. These two issues serve as the rationale

for this research.

As of the end of March 2015, the result of Round One was

unknown. However, questions regarding attractiveness of blocks

offered and poor fiscal condition of the contract were pointed. In

refining sector, configuration projects at PEMEX’s six refineries

were also suffering from low oil price and budget cut. In gas and

power sector, the Energy Reform paved the way for investors to

build new natural gas fired power plants and pipelines. Under the

new regime, the national electricity company embarked on mas-

sive investment in new generation capacity, mainly natural gas

combined cycle, and natural gas pipelines. These projects will

double Mexico’s import capacity of cheap U.S. gas in next five

years. However, as a negative effect, cheap gas supply from the

U.S. may diminish investment on domestic gas production.

The Mexican government is continuously working for im-

provement in investment climate, and external environment in-

cluding crude oil price will affect the progress of the reform, so

continued and careful observation will be needed.

Author’s note: The study was completed in March 2015

LNG Producers-Consumers Conference 2015

The LNG Producers-Consumers Conference is an annual event,

which started in 2012, and being organised by the Ministry of Econ-

omy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan and the Asia Pacific Energy

Research Centre (APERC). This year Conference (4th Conference)

was held in 16 September 2015 in Tokyo, Japan with a theme

“Evolving LNG Market with Natural Gas Security.” Said confer-

ence gathered around 1,000 participants from about 50 LNG pro-

ducing consuming countries and region. They were (next page)

8

LNG Producers-Consumers

composed of government officials, company executives, and

gas market analysts. The event was graced by Minster Yoichi

Miyazawa of METI together with Minister Mohammed Bin

Saleh Al-Sada, Ministry of Energy and Industry, Qatar, Vice

Minister Jae-do Moon, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Ener-

gy, Korea, Dr. Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the Interna-

tional Energy Agency (IEA), and Governor Bill Walker of the

State of Alaska, United

States.

Minister Miyazawa,

in his opening state-

ment, stressed on sup-

porting the significant

changes now transpir-

ing in LNG market such

as the increasing spot cargo transaction, relaxation of desti-

nation clause in contracts, and the pricing mechanisms.

These changes are essential in developing a well-functioning

LNG market with more flexibility in contracts. Strengthening

gas security, capability to respond to supply emergency in

international LNG market, was also underscored within the

framework of supply security.

Following the ministerial speeches, invited Senior Energy

Officials from gas producer and consumer countries made

presentations at special session on gas security. Discussions

revolved around the increasing concerns on global gas supply

security that might potentially happen with supply not able

to meet the increasing gas demand due to delays on final in-

vestment decisions (FIDS) on gas supply-related projects.

The five (5) sessions of the Conference covered several

issues and developments in the LNG market and gas supply.

Aside from flexibility of contracts and transactions on LNG,

equity participation of private

companies, and institutional and

policy supports from govern-

ments of importing countries

were also identified as vital

measures to contribute to sup-

ply security measures. Diversifi-

cation of supply sources was

likewise pointed out as a key element for supply security.

The United States’ shale gas production, which is seen to

reach the Asian markets, will boost world gas supply and di-

versification of supply sources for the consuming countries.

Based on IEA, global LNG production capacity is projected to

increase by 32% in 2020 coupled with changing pricing for-

mula delinking away from oil.

Development of a regional natural gas/LNG hub, specifi-

cally in Asia, was also highlighted by some (next page)

“ .demand for gas is being

bumped o by increasing use of

coal and renewable energy.”

The officials who participated in the LNG Produc-

ers-Consumers Conference 2015 includes Min-

ster Yoichi Miyazawa of METI together with Min-

ister Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, Ministry of

Energy and Industry, Qatar, Vice Minister Jae-do

Moon, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy,

Korea, Dr. Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the

International Energy Agency (IEA), and Governor

Bill Walker of the State of Alaska, United States.

Photo Source : APERC website

Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre

The Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre (APERC) was established in July

1996 in Tokyo following the directive of APEC Economic Leaders in the

Osaka Action Agenda. The primary objective of APERC is to conduct

researches to foster understanding among APEC members of regional

energy outlook, market developments and policy.

Fax (+81) 3-5144-8555

Tel (+81) 3-5144-8551

E-mail master@aperc.ieej.or.jp

Upcoming Event: The 2nd APEC Oil and Gas

Security Network Forum

The Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre (APERC) is

now preparing for the “2nd APEC Oil and Gas Security

Network Forum". The forum is expected to be held in

Kagoshima City, Japan on 10-11 March 2016.

As in the previous , the forum will serve as a venue

to form a network of working level officials in the APEC

economies and experts from international/regional or-

ganizations.

Preparation is also underway for the site visit which

is tentatively identified in JX Nippon Oil and Energy Stag-

ing Terminal Corporation to see their Kiire Terminal.

Final details on the forum will be further an-

nounced in the next issue.

speakers. The gas/LNG hub could facilitate the development of

transparent gas/LNG benchmark pricing and regional trading.

However, demand for gas is being bumped off by increas-

ing use of coal and renewable energy. As such, LNG must be

competitive and offer greater benefits compared with coal and

renewables.

With gas supply security gaining greater attention and

utmost concern, the G7 Energy Ministerial Meeting next year

in Japan will tackle such issue including LNG market. Likewise,

the APEC Oil and Gas Security Initiative (OGSI), being imple-

mented by APERC, will also seriously address gas supply securi-

ty in the conduct of Oil and Gas Security Exercise (OGSE) and

Oil and Gas Security Forum (OGSF) activities.

The Conference shall be continuously conducted as an

avenue for constant dialogue between producers and consum-

ers, and to foster mutual cooperation towards common goal of

a better global and regional LNG market.

Upcoming Event: APEC Oil and Gas Security

Exercise in the Philippines

The Philippines will be hosting the next APEC Oil and

Gas Security Exercise (OGSE) on 7-9 December 2015.

The activity is in response to the instructions from

the Energy Minsters for APERC to pursue regional coop-

eration on supply emergency response and to conduct

workshops and exercises to assist economies strengthen

emergency response measures and policies based on

their respective domestic circumstances. APERC already

held two (2) OGSE in 2013, the Joint Southeast Asian Ex-

ercise in Bangkok, Thailand, and the Indonesia Exercise.

The Team of Experts for the OGSE in the Philippines

will include experts from IEA, ACE, ASCOPE, HAPUA, ER-

IA, Japan and The USA and from the local academe.

Further information on the Exercise will be included

in the next issue.

Contributors for this Edition

Mr. Yoshikazu Kobayashi

Mr. Ichiro Kutani

Mr. Koji Horinuki

Dr. Tetsuo Morikawa

Ms. Ayako Sugino

Mr. Michael Sinocruz

Ms. Elvira Torres Gelindon

Editor-in-Chief

9 9