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1 Energy Security and Sustainability: An Overview
all three components in the long term, especially for those countries that are net
importers of energy. Such countries are always at the risk of international pressures/fluctuations/disruptions, such as price, war, political dynamics, and natural
disasters. In other words, a net energy importing country cannot consider itself safe
or energy secured. As far as India is concerned, it falls in the category of net importer
and there is no way India can turn the table at least till the turn of this century.
Energy security in the current global context means assured supply of energy to
the consumer under any circumstances at affordable prices. The concept of energy
security or secure energy supplies dates to 1970s when the OPEC imposed embargoes on oil supplies resulting in supply disruptions and price fluctuations. Many
developing and underdeveloped countries were taken by surprise. Before 1970, coal,
natural gas, and oil were the major sources of energy in most of the countries. While
proportion of coal remained almost the same during 1970s and 1980s (i.e. 32.3 and
30%, respectively), the proportion of natural gas went up from 18 to 20% during the
same period and petroleum went down from 47.6 to 45.8%. International oil politics
by OPEC for seven years between 1972 and 1979 sharply increased crude oil prices.
From less than 3 USD in 1972, oil went up to USD 13 per barrel in 1978 and by July
1979 it was more than USD 20 per barrel (World Development Report 1979).
After the end of Second World War and after the formation of OPEC (Organization
of Petroleum Exporting Countries), the world was divided into several groups (World
Development Report 1980; World Bank 1980):
1. Industrialized countries: This group consisted of countries that were members
of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
2 but
excluding Greece, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey, which were included in the list
of middle-income developing countries.
2. Developing countries: This group had two sub-groups. The low-income countries
whose GNP per person was USD 360 or below and the middle-income countries
whose GNP per person was USD 360 and above.
3. Oil exporting developing countries: This group comprised Algeria, Angola,
Bahrain, Bolivia, Brunei, Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, Gabon, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Mexico, Nigeria, Oman, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Venezuela, and
Zaire.
4. Capital surplus oil exporting countries: This group comprised countries like Iran,
Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
5. Oil importing developing countries: This group comprised developing countries
not classified as oil-exporting developing countries or capital surplus oil exporters.
6. Centrally planned economies: This group included the communist bloc nations
of Albania, Bulgaria, China, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic
Republic, Hungary, the Democratic Republic of Korea, Mongolia, Poland,
Romania, and the USSR.
2 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) members are Australia,
Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Greece,
Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
1 Energy Security and Sustainability: An Overview
all three components in the long term, especially for those countries that are net
importers of energy. Such countries are always at the risk of international pressures/fluctuations/disruptions, such as price, war, political dynamics, and natural
disasters. In other words, a net energy importing country cannot consider itself safe
or energy secured. As far as India is concerned, it falls in the category of net importer
and there is no way India can turn the table at least till the turn of this century.
Energy security in the current global context means assured supply of energy to
the consumer under any circumstances at affordable prices. The concept of energy
security or secure energy supplies dates to 1970s when the OPEC imposed embargoes on oil supplies resulting in supply disruptions and price fluctuations. Many
developing and underdeveloped countries were taken by surprise. Before 1970, coal,
natural gas, and oil were the major sources of energy in most of the countries. While
proportion of coal remained almost the same during 1970s and 1980s (i.e. 32.3 and
30%, respectively), the proportion of natural gas went up from 18 to 20% during the
same period and petroleum went down from 47.6 to 45.8%. International oil politics
by OPEC for seven years between 1972 and 1979 sharply increased crude oil prices.
From less than 3 USD in 1972, oil went up to USD 13 per barrel in 1978 and by July
1979 it was more than USD 20 per barrel (World Development Report 1979).
After the end of Second World War and after the formation of OPEC (Organization
of Petroleum Exporting Countries), the world was divided into several groups (World
Development Report 1980; World Bank 1980):
1. Industrialized countries: This group consisted of countries that were members
of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
2 but
excluding Greece, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey, which were included in the list
of middle-income developing countries.
2. Developing countries: This group had two sub-groups. The low-income countries
whose GNP per person was USD 360 or below and the middle-income countries
whose GNP per person was USD 360 and above.
3. Oil exporting developing countries: This group comprised Algeria, Angola,
Bahrain, Bolivia, Brunei, Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, Gabon, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Mexico, Nigeria, Oman, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Venezuela, and
Zaire.
4. Capital surplus oil exporting countries: This group comprised countries like Iran,
Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
5. Oil importing developing countries: This group comprised developing countries
not classified as oil-exporting developing countries or capital surplus oil exporters.
6. Centrally planned economies: This group included the communist bloc nations
of Albania, Bulgaria, China, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic
Republic, Hungary, the Democratic Republic of Korea, Mongolia, Poland,
Romania, and the USSR.
2 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) members are Australia,
Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Greece,
Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.