INTERNATIONAL BITS AND PIECES
Low Oil Prices To Delay Mideast Energy Projects: OPEC President
The current low oil prices will delay energy projects in producer countries, OPEC's current president, Obaid ibn Saif al-Nasseri, said here Sunday at the opening of a Middle East gas summit.
"Continuation of oil prices at these low levels will certainly damage the economies of producing nations, particularly the Middle Eastern countries, and certainly will delay many major oil and gas projects in the region," he said.
"The current turmoil in economies of many regions in the world and the present weak energy prices do not encourage producing nations to invest in major energy projects, mainly because the capital required is not available."
But Nasseri, who is oil minister of the United Arab Emirates, said a lack of investment in the energy sector would in turn lead to a price recovery.
"This, no doubt, would lead to shortages in oil and gas supply and would seriously impact world energy needs in the future ... (and) would cause sharp rises in energy prices," he said in the opening address.
The OPEC president said the demand for all energy sources would continue to rise with increasing world population, but that future expansion in energy supply sources needed to meet growth would require heavy capital investment.
World demand for oil was running at 8,631 million tonnes oil equivalent (mtoe) in 1995, he said. By 2000, it would reach 9,613 mtoe, 11,533 mtoe by 2010, and 13,366 mtoe by 2020.
Nasseri called for closer coordination between producing and consuming countries to ensure stability of the energy market.
"Non-stable markets and rapid fluctuations harm economies of both producing and consuming nations," he warned.
"We are for a serious dialogue between producers, consumers and major oil companies," Nasseri added.
The Middle East holds 65 percent of total world proven crude oil reserves and 35 percent of world proven natural gas reserves. It produces 30 percent of total world crude oil output and less than seven percent of gas production.
The United Arab Emirates, hosting the five-day gas conference in Abu Dhabi, holds 10 percent of world proven crude reserves and four percent of natural gas stocks.
News Analysis: What Thailand Expects From APEC Summit?
Thailand has a big plan for next month's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum's annual leadership conference in Kuala Lumpur despite recent developments in Southeast Asia.
Thai government officials have made it clear that Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai will attend the APEC meeting in Malaysia, where its former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim was sacked last month and later detained under the Internal Security Act.
Political sources here said the summit, or the APEC informal leadership conference, in addition to its agenda focusing on economic issues, will test the unity and coherence of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), whose members have different cards up in their sleeves in regards to the summit.
The sources said Thailand's decision to attend the meeting demonstrated the country's desire to help bring all ASEAN members to the summit which is expected to provide them an opportunity to heal their rift.
Thai government officials said Thailand is of the view that ASEAN nations should turn to one another in an effort to tackle the political and economic crisis facing the region.
"An internal matter should not be an obstacle to summits of the region," said Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra.
Prime Minister Chuan, as a result, will have a mission high on his agenda -- seeking discussion with other ASEAN members at the APEC meeting on how ASEAN can strengthen its solidarity, revive its dynamism and increase its bargaining power at the international forum.
ASEAN must seek a new strategy that would lead the organization into the new millennium making it less dependent on external communities and more sustainable with its own rich resources, Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan said.
"After one and a half years of economic crisis, we need to assess the situation, look for ways to resolve the problem and search for a new strategy to lead ASEAN into the new millennium," he said after chairing a recent preparatory APEC meeting.
On the sidelines of the APEC conference slated for November 17-18, Chuan will seek a bilateral meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad to stress the need to cooperate particularly in trade, tourism and human resource development, Thai government sources said.
Thailand's plan for the APEC meeting also includes efforts to share the experiences with other nations in areas where Thailand received assistance from international financial institutions, its success in stabilizing the baht currency, measures to deal with unemployment and social problems as well as its limitations in other areas, said the sources.
"The purpose is to seek more financial aid as Thailand still faces liquidity problems," said one source. "We need our friends to help us."
Thailand has more to achieve. It will propose to host APEC's electronic commerce resource center aimed at creating awareness and establishing an information data-base, by training those involved in commerce.
Thailand will benefit a lot from the center as more than 300 million people will be linked to the Internet by the turn of the century.
Another message Thailand is going to deliver will be its commitment to "an early voluntary sectoral liberalization" in the nine sectors it submitted last year.
Thai government officials said Thailand can easily liberalize the jewelry sector, and would have no problem in four other areas -- fish and fishery products, toys, forestry products and medical equipment.
They said the Commerce Ministry will look into the areas of energy, telecommunication, environmental equipment and chemical products to ensure early liberalization.
Thailand will also push for market access, cooperation and coordination in financial monitoring mechanisms in other countries.
"APEC members have good reasons to be optimistic that the summit will benefit us all," said a government source.
APEC Energy Ministers Call For Investment In Energy infrastructure
Energy ministers from 21 Asian and Pacific nations called Saturday for continual investment in energy infrastructure to pull the region out of its economic crisis.
They also agreed to promote wider and more efficient use of natural gas and to set voluntary goals on energy-saving to cope with an anticipated shortage in the region.
The appeals were contained in a declaration at the end of a two-day meeting of energy ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Okinawa, southern Japan.
The document will be submitted to the group's summit in Kuala Lumpur in November.
It urges APEC leaders to "highlight the important role that the energy sector could play in the recovery from the current economic difficulties" by improving the business environment, building efficient energy infrastructure and boosting energy efficiency.
"Ministers recognised that continuous development of energy infrastructure is essential as a stimulus for economic recovery as well as for sustainable development in the region," the declaration says.
It forecasts that primary energy demand in the region in 2010 will expand by 41 percent and energy output by 31 percent from the 1995 level "with total imports to be doubled as a consequence."
The meeting heard estimates that hundreds of billions of dollars would be needed over the next decade for power infrastructure in APEC economies, including the United States, China and Japan.
Peru, Russia and Vietnam, due to become full APEC members in November, were also represented at the meeting.
Up to 70 billion dollars in investment will be needed for natural gas infrastructure in Asia over the next 15 years to meet growing demand, the document says, along with hundreds of billions of dollars in other APEC economies.
"Natural gas trading networks" -- including pipelines, liquified natural gas terminals and distribution systems -- will promote economic development and cooperation and trade between the APEC economies, the document says.
"Feasibility studies on pipeline projects in this region should be conducted," it says.
On energy efficiency, the ministers agreed to implement a "voluntary pledge and review program" on efficiency gains and report results.
Summary Of Declaration By APEC Energy Ministers
The following is a summary of the declaration by energy ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, released Saturday at the end of their third annual meeting in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture.
Ministers and their representatives from 18 APEC member economies
-- Stressed the importance of implementing the 14 nonbinding energy policy principles aimed at addressing the current economic difficulties as well as achieving sustainable economic growth, stable energy supply and environmental protection.
-- Recognized the important role the energy sector can play in stimulating regional economic activity, and to this end, agreed that appropriate policy reforms should be pursued to build capacity and infrastructure stimulated by investment, including from the business sector.
-- Confirmed that diversifying energy supply, developing intraregional energy infrastructure and improving energy efficiency are vital to enhancing energy security.
-- Recognized the need to promote markets that function well, market based pricing, greater energy efficiency and information flows among market participants to enhance energy security.
-- Recognized that the continuous development of adequate energy infrastructure is essential, particularly for natural gas, for which demand is expected to grow significantly over the next 20 years.
-- Agreed investing in natural gas supplies will promote economic development among the APEC economies.
-- Agreed to implement a voluntary pledge and review program comprising: developing and implementing programs to achieve efficiency gains, reporting objectives and the results achieved on the program, sharing information and experience, and developing indicators and databases for the future.
-- Agreed to report the accomplishments and developments of their third meeting to APEC economic leaders for their consideration at their meeting in Kuala Lumpur in November.
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