Energy supply uncertainties can be effectively addressed with a comprehensive national energy policy that stresses energy efficiency, renewable energy and a more market oriented oil and gas sector, according to a report released by the Development Research Center of the State Council.

China should more aggressively promote energy efficiency and commercialization of its national oil and gas companies by opening the sector to international oil companies. This will attract investment and needed new technologies, said the report.

The country should clarify the security-enhancing roles of both international and national companies. This could lead to the creation of a market-oriented, multi-source, robust national energy economy that would provide an important basis for security of supply, the report said.

The "right mix" of a specific security of supply measures should be selected according to China's needs from a suite of measures that includes: maintaining spare domestic production capability; protection of its import oil transport channels; accumulated reserves; allocation and possibly rationing systems to share scare supplies equitably; and close international cooperation with trading partners for whom secure oil supplies are essential for their economic well being and with energy exporters who have a similar interest in secure markets, the report stressed.

Recognizing the country's interdependence in the global energy sector and incorporating security of supply into the country's long term strategy could be the first steps on the road towards a stable energy supply, which is one of the pillars of sustainable development for the sector and the overall economy during the coming decades, the report said.

Source: Xinhua