The cooperation between the Center for Energy Studies UGM and the Energy Security Division of Foreign Affairs Ministry became one of the important issues in the Asia Pacific region. This issue has been very dynamic marked by the high rates of economic growth in the region. With the high growth, the Asia Pacific region seems heavily dependent on energy supplies, particularly oil and gas. The dependence is expected to continue in line with the economic growth in the region.
Asia-Pacific countries are expected to absorb more than half of world energy supply in the second decade of this century. The energy supply from overseas is causing susceptibility to shipping disruptions and price fluctuations. "This is the background of the contract signing of cooperation between the Center and the Department of Foreign Affairs on June 17, 2010," said the Head of the Center, Prof. Drs. Jumina, Ph.D., on Friday (25/6).
The context of current global economy, according to Jumina, tends to be highly profitable to energy security of Asia Pacific countries. At least, there are two factors that promote the positive development. Apart from energy supply and demand that are increasingly controlled by the market, it is also because of the world economy that is increasingly integrated and the increasing interdependence of states as well as economic sector, and the decreasing the opportunity to make energy as a political or economic instrument.
Therefore, it becomes very important to do research on energy security in Asia Pacific region and its implications for Indonesia. As the realization of such cooperation, the research conducted is based on two important concepts that provide a framework for understanding the energy security in the region, namely the concept of ‘region’ and ‘regionalism’ and the concept of ‘interdependence’.
The concepts of ‘region’ and ‘regionalism’ help understand the energy security within a regional framework with the tendency toward the direction of regionalization in the relationship between oil producers and consumers. "Meanwhile, the concept of ‘interdependence’ helps us understand how an economy or economic sectors are interrelated to each other," explained Jumina.
The study was conducted using the full literature study method, based on the publications and studies that have been done before. In addition, the documents that describe the energy policy in Asia Pacific countries are also used, as well as primary and secondary data, both issued by the respective countries or international institutions. The Research activities led by Dr. Muhadi Sugiono, M.A., with members Drs. Sudiatono, M.S. and Rachmawan Budiarto, S.T., M.T., is planned for completion in November 2010.
Comprehensively, the research will connect several different levels of analysis, namely the global, regional, and national levels. Level of global analysis is needed to understand the political economic context that is very influential for Asia-Pacific energy security. "The regional level analysis is expected to help understand the emergence of structure, mechanism and character of regional energy security as a product of the collective interaction at the regional level, whether it is specifically designed or not. Finally, the national analysis level will be used to see the threats to the regional efforts in maintaining the energy security of the region," Jumina explained.
Besides to obtain a comprehensive picture about the condition and character of energy security in Asia Pacific, both collective (regional) and individual in each country, the research is also intended to map the pattern of energy supply and demand in this region. In addition, the study is also aimed to analyze the mechanisms and efforts made by countries in the Asia Pacific region collectively to ensure regional energy security. "Another aim is to be able to analyze the trends that threaten the energy security in the Asia Pacific region at present and the implications of the condition and character as well as threats to energy security," he said.