Energy security cooperation in the Asia Pacific

Economic development is inseparable from energy supply, and along with the advance towards industrialization and urbanization in the Asia Pacific, the regional demand for energy increases. Oil, the second-generation fuel after coal, has provided energy for Asian Pacific economic development, and has played a crucial role in the regional economic life. As the fastest-growing region in the world, the Asia Pacific ranks the first globally in oil demand growth. The present oil glut in world energy market and the low oil price fluctuation are short-term phenomena. Oven the long term, the global oil market will change from surplus to deficiency, and oil prices will gradually go up. This is mostly because world oil production is approaching its highest level and the majority of new oilfields with rich reserves have already been verified. The world will have produced half of its ultimate reserves before the end of the century. It is estimated that global oil depletion will emerge within the first half of the next century, and that another oil shock seems certain. ''Unlike the previous shocks, it will not be a short-term supply interruption, but will herald a historic discontinuity with profound implications for both the oil industry and Oil consumers.'' The oil production in Asian Pacific countries is insufficient for self-consumption, and oil imports are imperative; the Middle East will continue to be their main oil supplier. The entry of China and ASEAN countries into the ranks of net oil importers will have tremendous impact on global and regional oil supplies and market conditions. The intensity and complexity of energy tension in the Asian Pacific are development of which the region is not fully aware and for which it is not well prepared. The growing, gap between energy supply and demand in the region could easily have destabilizing international and regional consequences and would strain relations among the Asian Pacific countries. The strife for marine energy resources and the competition for Middle East oil to secure a stable supply will be acute, and the guarantee of the sea-lane security will increase in significance. The region's projected scale of nuclear power generation commitment also raises serious concern over proliferation dangers. The Asian Pacific energy situation requires that energy security cooperation be put on the regional policy agenda. As Asian Pacific security cooperation has become a matter of common concern in the region, energy security cooperation might become one aspect of Asian Pacific security cooperation and could serve as a catalyst for it.