Securing Asia's energy future with regional integration

A fundamental shift is taking place in the geography of global energy demand towards developing countries, especially to Asia. Rapid economic growth, changing demographics, and growing urbanization mean China, India, and the other developing Asian economies will continue to account for an ever-increasing share of global energy consumption, rising to 52% of electricity, 80% of coal, and 26% of world natural gas demand by 2040 (IEA, 2018). Given the limited resource endowments, Asia's energy future remains vulnerable to global sources of supplies and price volatility, with potential threats to ongoing economic development. Regional integration of energy markets through agglomeration effects, cost efficiencies as a result of economies of scale and scope, new investments, human capability enhancements, and diversity of energy sources will help to increase Asian energy security. Till day, Asian energy markets remain fragmented and the research identifies present challenges to regional integration in Asia. The paper adopts a multidisciplinary approach to understand the inherent challenges and barriers to energy integration using two different case studies and outlines policy agenda covering politics, economics, finance, technical, governance, and institutional reforms to secure Asia's energy future.