THE vitality of continuous exchange of information and opinion on the state of natural gas production and utilisation among producers and its consumers was stressed by the Deputy Permanent Secretary (Energy) at the Prime Minister’s Office and SOE Leader of Brunei Darussalam at the 6`h Asean+3 Natural Gas Forum held at Rizqun International Hotel in Gadong.

“Brunei Darussalam continues to strongly support this initiative under the umbrella of AMEM+3 through the Energy Policy Governing Group (EPGG). It is undeniable that on some points our interests do differ for example in terms of prices for the LNG and so on.

“Yet there are definitely no differences in our understanding of how important natural gas is as part and parcel of the overall energy security in our respective countries. It is on this common understanding and respect for each other that we are able to strengthen our relationship both at professional and personal level,” said the Deputy Permanent Secretary (Energy), Haji Ismail POKPS DP Haji Hashim.

He also said that LNG continues to be a fuel of choice for some economies in the international market due to its clean reputation, where the urgent need to counter climate change and protect the environment can be facilitated by the use of natural gas instead of other less cleaner alternatives.

Despite the global economic recession over the last two years affecting the natural gas market in our regions, Brunei Darussalam sees a very bright future for its natural gas industry, added Haji Ismail

“We are investing on rejuvenation works at our BLNG Plant in Lumut including four out of the five trains and in new and larger LNG vessels. These will ensure that the Brunei LNG Project shall continue to provide stable and uninterrupted supply of LNG to our customers far beyond the life of the current LNG contracts. We are also proud to mention here that our methanol plant also located in Lumut will be fully operational and will commence export very shortly,” he said.

He also touched on the energy conservation efforts in the country, where Brunei uses natural gas as fuel for power generation.

“Unfortunately, the provision of power to consumers at very low tariff has turned Brunei Darussalam as one of the highest power consumption per capita in this region.

“Several measures to educate the consumers on the need to conserve and be more efficient in the use of energy have been taken.

“This includes the designation of May 24 as Brunei Darussalam’s Energy Day. To commemorate this day, events and programmes are held. 2010 will be the fourth year the Energy Day will be held.

“Alhamdulillah, we have seen some successes in promoting awareness on how valuable energy is not only for us but also for the future generation,” revealed Hj Ismail to the participants.

Meanwhile, Mr Masatoshi Shinagawa, Senior Policy Advisor of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan agreed on the points made by Hj Ismail.

“This meeting is a great opportunity for both natural gas exporting and importing countries to share information and experiences for better regional energy security.

“For importing countries, accurate current production and future plans from exporting countries are very important. For exporting countries current demand and future projection in importing countries are also necessary for stable production and continued investment,” he said.

Mr Shinagawa added that active cooperation from both importing and exporting countries will ensure better energy security, depending on daily efforts by all countries, and sees the forum as a platform for active discussion that will contribute to the natural gas industry and a sustainable future.

The two-day forum is participated by Asean member countries plus Japan, Korea and China except for Indonesia, Myanmar, Lao PDR and Vietnam due to their prior commitments.

The forum consists of three sessions — the first session’, discussed the outlook and infrastructures for natural gas, while the second and third sessions comprised country presentations on current issues or status and trends in the gas energy sector in various angles and topics by both natural gas producing or exporting Asean member states and consuming or importing Asean member states.

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