Business Briefing: Energy Security and decarbonisation

Thursday 05 December 2024

 
On Thursday, 5 December, the Perth USAsia Centre hosted a business briefing with Mr Takayuki Ueda, President and CEO of INPEX CORPORATION, Japan’s flagship energy company.
 
Mr. Ueda’s keynote address framed the energy trilemma in the context of Australia’s broader role in the global energy transition.  In his remarks, Mr. Ueda noted that Australia is the largest supplier to the major consuming countries in Asia. Industry analysts forecast that Asian LNG demand will continue to grow, to the point where by 2050, Asia is forecast to represent 75% of global LNG demand. As a stable source of supply, Australia has a key advantage. However, Mr. Ueda noted that based on Wood Mackenzie’s LNG production capacity outlook, reduction in Australian supply could potentially result in the country dropping from being the 2nd largest LNG producer in 2023 to potentially the 7th largest by 2050.
 
Mr. Ueda addressed the geopolitical nature of energy, noting that while Japan and Australia share both democratic values and a belief in free markets, global energy security is now far more volatile now as energy supply has become weaponised by certain nations. Australia has a vital long-term role to play in Asia by offering our regional neighbours diversification, stability and economics of energy supply.  Australia could also potentially play a leading role in developing carbon capture and storage (CCS), helping other Asian countries to develop a CCS value chain to reduce CO2 emissions.
 
The keynote address was followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with Mr. Ueda, the Hon. Richard Court AC, Former Ambassador of Australia to Japan, Rebecca Tomkinson, Chief Executive Officer, The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia and Clare Pope, Partner, Gilbert & Tobin, and a member of the Australia Japan Business Co-operation Committee.  The discussion was moderated by Gordon Flake, CEO of the Perth USAsia Centre.  During the panel discussion, one geopolitical reflection was that Australia and Japan have a track record of several decades of mutually develop each other’s economies, particularly through energy trading. The strong collaboration between Japan and Australia could potentially expand further to help invest in similar energy supply and infrastructure for our other regional neighbours.