DOHA: Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani will open the 6th Asian Ministerial Energy Roundtable (AMER6) in Doha today. The three-day roundtable is being organised by the Ministry of Energy and Industry in coordination with the International Energy Forum (IEF).
The meet will be attended by ministers and representatives from 30 largest producers and consumers of energy in Asia. It will focus on the importance of dialogue in the convergence of views to create a balance in the energy markets, and in securing global energy needs to ensure continued development in the participating countries. AMER6 will bring views of producers and consumers of energy in Asia closer in light of the new reality in energy markets.
The event is being co-hosted by Thailand. The first day of the roundtable will see welcoming remarks by H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry, Qatar, General Anantaporn Kanjanarat, Minister of Energy, Thailand and Dr Aldo Flores Quiroga, Secretary General, International Energy Forum. H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, Chairman of Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah Foundation for Energy & Sustainable Development, will be the keynote speaker on the first day.
The Prime Minister will formally inaugurate the roundtable tomorrow.
The second day will see a plenary session on ‘Oil markets: a new normal or just another cycle, and what does it mean for Asia?’
The topic has become relevant as oil price volatility in 2014-2015 reached its highest level since 2008-2009 and its determinants are the subject of much discussion.
Developments on both the supply and demand sides, from the unconventionals’ revolution to greater efficiency in consumption, passing through adjustments in credit and financial markets, are drawing the attention of observers as potential drivers of a new reality for the global oil market.
Given the importance of market stability for investment, and of the role of energy costs for Asia’s economic development, this session will explore factors behind these recent oil market trends and their possible implications. Plenary session-2 will be on ‘Gas and coal in Asia’s energy mix: interactions and uncertainties’.
The topic is important because Asian natural gas trade is expected to intensify in the near term as new pipeline and LNG projects go on-stream. Such an evolution of the gas industry has motivated greater interest in its possible impact over the regional energy mix, most notably in the prospects for coal, which to date is the backbone for electricity generation and supports a high share of industrial processes. Coal, it is said, is the real competition for gas, not renewables.
Dr Al Sada will give opening remarks in this session. Plenary session-3 will be on ‘Delivering on the clean energy agenda: prospects and the role for policy’.
The Peninsula
