Addressing energy security, at home and in the region Ignatius Randy K  ;  An Indonesian diplomat currently working in the Foreign Ministry

JAKARTA POST,  01 Desember 2014

                                                                                                                       

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo finally took the bold measure of cutting the fuel subsidy, hiking the prices of subsidized gasoline by Rp 2,000 (16 US cents) or 33 percent per liter starting on Nov. 18. The government has dodged one bullet of the burdensome fuel subsidy. However, there is one more bullet to be dodged — our acute dependence on imported oil. With 44 percent of our energy derived from fossil fuels, it means almost half of our energy security is dependent on the perilous sea lanes along the Indo-Pacific. Once an oil exporter country, Indonesia enjoyed the oil boom in the 1980s as well as membership of OPEC. During the oil boom honeymoon phase the price of petroleum-based fuel was one of the cheapest on the planet. However, as the Indonesian economy flourishes, its energy consumption rapidly increases. Leaving OPEC in 2009 because of the decline in oil production, today this nation is heavily dependent upon imported oil to meet its heavy consumption. Dependence on imported energy is also faced by Indonesia’s neighbors in the Indo-Pacific region. As these countries have developed into Asian economic magnates, their energy consumption also has grown accordingly. Driven by their export-based industries, these countries need a stable oil supply from the Middle East. There is no doubt that there is a clear line between economic development and energy consumption. Each day, a massive volume of oil passes through the Indo-Pacific chokepoints, namely — the Bab-el-Mandeb (3.3 million barrels per day), the Strait of Hormuz (17 million barrels per day) and the Strait of Malacca (15.2 million barrels per day). The region’s industry-driven economic development is highly dependent on the stability of these chokepoints. Any impediment to the supply traffic will slow down or even hinder the economic growth of the whole region. Even though land pipelines are deemed as the safest way to transport oil, 70 percent of the world’s oil supply is still transported by sea. However, from the day mankind set sail to explore the oceans until today, inter-continental voyages still pose lots of risks and uncertainty with natural and man-made hazards along the way. Thus, seaborne transportation is still the most effective and efficient way to transport oil from one place to another. Therefore, to achieve a state of energy security in the Indo-Pacific region, we should focus on how to maintain order at sea to ensure the safety of the traffic to and from the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. Nonetheless, unilateral state action to maintain order at the sea, often through an assertive naval presence, creates political tensions between coastal states and user states. In the long term, some unilateral actions might even destabilize the sea lane through prolonged political tension between states, as we see in the Indo-Pacific today. Unilateral actions initiated by the user states might even provoke the coastal states to close the strategic chokepoints to foreign vessels, jeopardizing the energy supply of the whole region. This is the worst-case scenario we would like to avoid. Therefore, a common understanding between the coastal and user states must be met. A balance of interest between the freedom of navigation and coastal states’ sovereignty must be met. Such an understanding may sound too good to be true, though once states want to be pragmatic, it is not impossible. In the end both parties, even the most chauvinistic coastal-state regime, need overseas trade to supply their needs, as no state is self-sufficient. As an archipelagic state, secure sea lanes will not only ensure Indonesian energy security, but also strengthen Indonesian logistical connectivity between its 17,000 islands in order to distribute fuel and other daily goods efficiently across the nation. To prioritize domestic efforts such as the development of alternative-energy projects over the regional initiative is unrealistic, as both efforts should go hand-in-hand. There will be no energy security at home without safe sea lanes to and from the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. Whether or not the government subsidizes the fuel, the race for energy security is still rolling on in the Indo-Pacific. At sea we manifest our destiny. To achieve energy security at home, Indonesia needs to actively administer the safety of the sea lanes along the Indo-Pacific. There is no better time to utilize its “thousand friends” into a regional initiative toward regional energy security. ●