Thailand Teams Up To Prepare For Energy Supply

Thailand is the first country where the IEA has conducted the emergency exercise outside of France. Thailand-IEA joint emergency response exercise was held in Bangkok. The International Energy Agency is helping Thailand’s Ministry of Energy strengthen its emergency response plan for any possible oil and gas disruption, as the Paris-based agency takes steps to reach out to Asian countries.

Didier Houssin, the director of the IEA’s Directorate of Energy Markets and Security, said that the cooperation on security is high on the agenda. We have to work closely with non-member countries to have effective responses to deal with supply disruption. It’s important to work more with Asian countries because of their increasing share in energy markets. Houssin said that there is a possibility IEA could conduct emergency exercises with China and India.

IEA conducts emergency response exercises every two years at its headquarters. And this workshop will later be developed as an action plan for the country to be ready when a crisis emerges, said Energy Minister Wannarat Channukul.