Singapore has raised its risk assessment under the Disease Outbreak Response System (DORSCON) from Yellow to Orange on 7 February.

Under DORSCON Orange, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has advised all event organisers to cancel or defer non-essential large-scale events. In view of the MOH advisory, we will be postponing all our public events for February and March until further notice.

We will update our events pages with the rescheduled dates once the coronavirus situation stabilises. Thank you.

Abstract

Globally, one of the main targets for both energy suppliers and energy consumers (importer countries) is to achieve energy security, which means to preserve regular energy supplies without disruptions.

We can observe that Middle Eastern and Asian countries are interdependent on one another for energy security. Middle Eastern oil and gas suppliers (mainly Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar) are key partners and exporters to countries such as China, Japan and South Korea, which have growing energy demands. This strategic energy co-operation is implemented through maritime corridors, such as the Strait of Hormuz and Strait of Malacca. Consequently, the security of these sea lines of communications and the need to find alternative energy routes to bypass these choke points have become the main tasks of both importer and exporter countries seeking to avoid potential interruptions to the energy supply.

The aim of this presentation is to analyse the strategic relevance of the East–West Asia energy relations and the challenges that affect this energy partnership. We will look at a combination of different geopolitical issues, such as the recent tensions in Middle East and the vulnerability of the energy choke points; the success of the shale gas revolution in the United States, which has reduced Middle Eastern hydrocarbon exports to the West; and the difficulty in diversifying the energy routes of import and export. Furthermore, given Asean countries’ position along these maritime energy corridors, they can also play a significant role in enhancing global energy security.