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Energy Games in Asia: Increasing Energy Demands, Increasing Imports


If the world were a playground, energy demand might be the seesaw, with each nation trying to achieve a balance between its people’s needs and its own ability to produce or import petroleum resources. For the decades that the US was the world’s largest energy consumer – a consumer largely dependent on imported oil –…

kids-playingIf the world were a playground, energy demand might be the seesaw, with each nation trying to achieve a balance between its people’s needs and its own ability to produce or import petroleum resources.

For the decades that the US was the world’s largest energy consumer – a consumer largely dependent on imported oil – it might have seemed that we were hogging the playground equipment.  But now, with the US cutting its imports, the big oil producers have little choice but to start playing more with other nations.  China, India, Japan, and the 10 countries that comprise the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are pushing their way to the front of the line.

Playing Well with Others

While energy self-sufficiency is increasing in the US and other Western nations, most of Asia is experiencing quite the opposite:  The region’s energy demand is growing exponentially, just as production from domestic oil and natural gas resources has fallen off significantly.  Can they keep up the good sportsmanship?


Dan Eberhart Avatar