International Energy Forum (IEF)
The International Energy Forum (IEF) is a prominent platform within global energy governance, primarily focusing on oil markets and pricing. Established in 2000, it serves as a biennial gathering for energy ministers and key stakeholders from the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), as well as major emerging economies like China and India. The IEF represents over 90 percent of the world’s oil and gas supply and demand, making it an inclusive forum for diverse interests in the global oil trade. Its permanent secretariat is located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A significant initiative of the IEF is the Joint Oil Data Initiative (JODI), which aims to enhance market transparency by collecting and sharing data on oil production and trade. While the IEF does not possess the binding authority of traditional international organizations, it plays a crucial role in fostering open dialogue and cooperation among oil producers and consumers. The forum also promotes initiatives to improve stability and predictability in energy markets, addressing the challenges posed by price volatility and the rising influence of new energy consumers. Overall, the IEF represents a collaborative effort to navigate the complexities of the global energy landscape.
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International Energy Forum (IEF)
Summary: The International Energy Forum is one of the most inclusive and dynamic bodies in global energy governance. It is concerned primarily with issues related to oil markets and prices.
The International Energy Forum (IEF) is a biennial forum, gathering energy ministers from the members of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and major transit states and emerging economies such as China and India. IEF participants together account for more than 90 percent of global oil and gas supply and demand. In contrast to IEA and OPEC, the IEF therefore provides a forum for all participants of global oil trade and a variety of interests. It also convenes the heads of the world’s major oil companies. Its permanent secretariat is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. At the 12th IEF in Cancun, Mexico, in 2010, members decided to develop an IEF charter. One of the major achievements of the IEF is the Joint Oil Data Initiative (JODI), which collects oil market data and thereby contributes to the oil market’s transparency and stability.
Traditionally, global energy politics were characterized by clear-cut coalitions, pitting consumers against exporters. Major oil-exporting countries founded OPEC in 1960. As a reaction to the first oil crisis in 1973, major oil importers established the International Energy Agency in 1974. However, this traditional configuration of global energy governance was only partly capable of acting in the face of new challenges: namely, the emergence of new consumers such as China and India and a rising level of price volatility in the oil market.
To address such challenges, the IEF has emerged as a global forum. The history of the IEF dates back to 1990, when the oil price spiked as a consequence of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Venezuela and France initiated a ministerial meeting to discuss the issue of oil prices. The meeting took place regularly beginning in 1991 and was renamed the International Energy Forum in 2000. In 2002, members decided to establish a permanent secretariat in Riyadh. In 2004, the International Energy Business Forum was established.
In the context of oil price hikes until 2008, when a barrel of oil was sold for more than $145, the participants in global oil trade turned to the forum as a platform for discussing and confronting the challenge. Besides the official 11th IEF in Rome in April 2008, two other meetings were held: in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and in London. The meetings were met with great interest by both exporters and importers, who confirmed their mutual interest in a stable oil market and less volatile prices. This mutual agenda was carried further at the 12th IEF in Cancun in 2010. The IEF charter, which members called for at that meeting, was signed in February 2011. It will aim to narrow differences in interests and promote transparency of the oil market and predictability of energy policy. It will furthermore strive to enhance collection and availability of data and to identify guidelines to improve energy market stability and sustainability. The IEF, OPEC, and the IEA contiuned to hold yearly symposiums on the world's energy outlook into the 2020s.
The IEF is not an international organization in the sense of the IEA or the United Nations, but an informal forum. It does not have power to put forward any binding decisions or to sanction its members. All initiatives, established in the context of the forum, are instead voluntary. Nevertheless, it has gained importance as a place for open and frank discussions and as an incubator for useful initiatives enhancing the functioning of global oil markets and energy policy more generally.
The most prominent of several concrete initiatives is the Joint Oil Data Initiative (JODI). Established in 2001, the JODI collects data on petroleum production, imports, exports, and refining. Traditionally, only IEA members published such data. Emerging economies and major producers were much more reluctant or did not have the bureaucratic capacity or know-how to generate such data in the first place. JODI has helped to establish these capabilities and to increase the transparency of the oil market. It thereby helps lessen the volatility of oil prices.
IEF participants have furthermore called for an extension of JODI to cover the issue of investment. In addition, the IEF has started several dialogues: State-owned national and international oil companies, for example, have started to negotiate codes of mutual conduct, and organizations publishing energy outlooks, such as the IEA and OPEC, have discussed basic assumptions underlying their (often inconsistent) predictions.
Bibliography
Bahgat, Gawdat. Energy Security: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley, 2011.
Harks, Enno. “The International Energy Forum and the Mitigation of Oil Market Risks.” In Global Energy Governance: The New Rules of the Game, edited by Andreas Goldthau and Jan M. Witte. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2010.
"History." International Energy Forum, 2020, www.ief.org/about/history. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024.
"International Energy Forum." International Energy Agency, 2024, www.iea.org/about/international-collaborations/international-energy-forum. Accessed 2 Aug. 2024.