Introduction
Economic growth in the Indo-Pacific region is considered high. Many countries in the region sustain its economic growth from 3-7% for the last decade. The growth is spurred by three giants Asian countries namely, China, Japan and India. Along with the economic growth, energy consumption has increased as well. In 2011 China’s oil consumption was 9,790,000 bbl/day, Japan 4,464,000 bbl/day and India 3,292,000 bbl/day. China, Japan and India were ranked two, three and four respectively just under United States’ oil consumption.
Seizing over energy has colored the international political relationships in the region. Six countries namely, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam and the Republic of China/Taiwan have been involved in Spratly and Paracel islands dispute for decades while Indonesia and Malaysia over Ambalat block.
In 2030, it is predicted that energy production will decline sharply while consumption will be increased. The gap between energy production and consumption could be the source of conflict. Furthermore, in this anarchy international system and Self-help, war/conflict becomes one of the plausible choices. This essay will discuss the security threat posed in the Indo-Pacific region caused by the struggle for energy and its transportation.
Transportation of Energy
Countries in the Middle East and Africa are the main source of East Asian countries’ crude oil supplier, For example, by 2011,
Two-thirds of the world’s remaining oil reserves are in the Middle East which will make international policy imperative in the future (Campbell 2007). It is
The chapter by Manabu Shimizu focuses on Japan’s efforts in oil exploration and the country’s future goals in the oil industry. Since Japan imports all of its oil, the “challenge is to establish a long-term, sustainable oil supply” (Shimizu 113). Japan has begun to fund Central Asian oil exploration in the hopes of a big oil market being produced for that region. However, Japan does not intend to import oil from Central Asia, rather they want other regions to do import. By doing so, some of the production pressure is lifted from the Middle East, which is where most of Japan’s oil comes from. At the moment, the Middle East is the main producer of oil for many countries with great power over the market, and Japan hopes to create another market
Middle East is strategically important region where mostly world half of oil reserves are located. Three countries: Saudi Arabia, Iran and United Arab Emirates accounted for 57% of total Middle East liquids fuels production. (Liquid fuels production in Middle Eastern and North African countries n.d.) Although due to increased domestic production of petroleum and natural gas, the United States is reducing its dependence on foreign oil with imported liquid fuels, but still oil means a lot to the US as oil prices is determined internationally by what is available for all global consumers. Therefore, to safeguard the security of Oil supply in the Middle East and ensure stable access to affordable oil is in the vital interest of the America. (Mexican crude oil shipments to Europe and Asia are rising as U.S. imports fall
Recent doubt in country’s energy supply as a result of political concerns in the Middle East nations, and other foreign oil generating nations, also volatility in the prices of oil, and natural gas have contributed to increase country’s energy independence through a greater local energy supply and to minimize the greater effects of the economy from any prices fluctuation in the fossil fuel markets, including the natural gas price hike in 2004 and 2005 cyclone
Energy, especially from fossil fuels, is a key ingredient for all sectors of a modern economy and plays a fundamental role in improving the quality of life in less developed economies. In 2007, India is ranked fifth in the world in terms of energy demand; accounting for 3.6% of total energy consumed, and is expected to grow at 4.8% in the future. India imports 70% of the oil it uses, and the country has been hit
Oil was found at Masjed Soleyman in southeastern Iran on May 26, 1908, and three years later was piped down to a newly built refinery at Abadan on the Iranian side of the Shatt-Al-Arab, not many miles below Basra.1(Stephen, 1991) Its global importance eas immediately recognized, not just by the Admiralty in London, looking for new sources of supply for its oil-fired battleships, but in other European capitals as well leading to a brief British-German-Turkish skirmish for control of the pipeline at the start of World War 1.2(Wilfred, 2007) Oil was next found in the Persian Gulf, beginning with Bahrain in 1931; there were subsequent discoveries in Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Trucial states, and Oman. By 1960 the smaller Gulf states were producing 15 percent of the world 's oil, with another 10 percent or so coming from Iraq and Iran.3(Longrigg, Oil in the Middle East) By 1970 this had risen to 30 percent.4(BP Statistical Review, 2006) The story of the discovery, exploitation, and importance of Middle Eastern oil has been told in many different ways, and from many different points of view. For some it has been a source of Western triumphalism as in the case of the Aramco story , in which brave Texas "pioneers" conquer the world 's last oil frontier.5(Wallace, 1971) For others, like the Arab novelist Abad Al-Rahman Munif, it is a tale of woe, as the lives of nomadic people are disrupted by the appearance of prisons and exploitative local officials.6(Cities of Salt, 1989)
After the Industrial Revolution first and second world countries have been heavily reliant on oil. This has led to a total (as of 2014) of
To examine the role of the Middle East and Russia in the energy market and why in the last 5-10 years, the oil, coal and gas market has been deemed insecure.
Japan has undergone significant changes in reliance on energy sources within the last five years. Unfortunately, these changes have often been sporadic and unpredictable for its government and citizens. Japan is the third largest oil importer and the second largest coal importing country today. Overall, Japan is the fifth largest consumer of global energy, yet imports almost all of its crude oil. Even more so, with a country that doubles its energy consumption every five years, its government is quickly searching for and implementing new solution to avoid a heavy reliance on importation.
World oil demand is increasing as emerging economies need more energy to increase their living standards. Estimates, shown below, are that by 2030, China and India as emerging markets will import over 70% to 90% of their fossil fuel needs (1) . Coupled to a continued high and growing demand for oil, makes this a robust market for the next 30 years.
In order to better understand the dispute of these islands and this body of water, geography plays a role considering the area sea is located to borders on many different regions. According Chmillier-Gendreau (2000), the south-west of the Indian Ocean, the sea connects with the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. To the north-east, the sea connects with the Sea of Japan and the Strait of Korea. The position of this body of water is interconnected with many other bodies of waters which coincide with many countries. The islands residing in the middle of this sea therefore lies in the middle of many different countries. The two islands, Spratly and Paracel Islands lie in the middle of the maritime zone. Since it is in the middle, no neighboring country is really physically connected to these islands by geography (Chemillier-Gendreau, 2000, p. 16). Despite that fact, China and Vietnam both claim sovereignty over these islands based on historical and
country which is fourth most populous nation on the planet, is on the course of becoming one of the biggest economies in coming decades, Indonesia’s influence and role on the international platform cannot be overlooked especially when one of the fastest growing tension in the world is taking place in its own backyard. The recent heightening of competition for the dominance over South China Sea, an enormously important region due to its strategic location and vast amount of untapped natural resources, has strained relationships between China and other countries in the region. China’s extensive claims of authority over the sea—and the sea’s supposed 11 billion barrels of untapped oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas—have provoked challenging claimants Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan, Indonesia, and the Philippines. As early as the 1970s, countries in the region began to claim as their own islands and various zones in the South China Sea for instance the Spratly islands, which may have rich natural resources and fishing areas.
Today, India is the fifth largest energy consumer in the world. While the world consumes 12000 million tons of oil equivalents (mtoe) of energy resources, India consumes 4.4% of the world total (524.2 mtoe). Global consumption of primary commercial energy (coal, oil & natural gas, nuclear and major hydro) has grown at a rate of 2.6% over the last decade. In India, the growth rate of demand is around 6.8%, while the supply is expected to increase at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of only 1%.
There are several energy resources such as petroleum, coal and natural gases that used widely in transportation and industry. Currently, petroleum is the major power and it is almost drained attributable to urbanization. This caused several phenomena such as air pollution, global environment problems and almost to climate change (Abdul Rahman, 2006).The world confronts the energy crisis attributable to depletion of energetic resources for the last few years. Thus, the consequences will be the significant increase of the environmental problems (Barnwal, 2005).
The economic growth of India has spurred the fundamental change among the country’s consumers. The ability of purchasing power of the poor people is giving a thrust in its economic development and social change among the Indian people.