{"id":189776,"date":"2015-01-20T04:00:04","date_gmt":"2015-01-19T18:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=189776"},"modified":"2015-01-20T04:00:04","modified_gmt":"2015-01-19T18:00:04","slug":"spc-welcomes-falling-energy-prices-caution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/spc-welcomes-falling-energy-prices-caution\/","title":{"rendered":"SPC welcomes falling energy prices with caution"},"content":{"rendered":"

SUVA, Fiji<\/strong>\u2014The Secretariat of the Pacific Community is optimistic that cheaper oil prices will not reduce the Pacific region\u2019s momentum toward a renewable energy and energy efficient future.<\/p>\n

Falling global oil prices have given some relief to Pacific Islands\u2019 consumers who pay among the highest prices in the world at the petrol pump, mainly due to import costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing significant decreases in oil prices but this should be translated into reduced electricity and transport costs, two key sectors that SPC is working on with Pacific governments,\u201d the Director of SPC\u2019s Economic Development Division, John Hogan, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur major concern right now is to see the price decreases passed on to consumers in the Pacific and that there\u2019s no erosion in the region\u2019s commitment to renewable energy and energy efficiency,\u201d Hogan said.<\/p>\n

The head of SPC\u2019s Energy Program, Solomone Fifita, said that while cheaper energy prices could potentially promote inefficiencies and waste, SPC hoped governments would use this opportunity to raise revenue that could be invested in renewable energy and energy efficiency programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe transition to low-carbon economies should result in the long-term, permanent decrease in energy prices that the region is after,\u201d Fifita said.<\/p>\n

SPC monitors and analyzes movements in the global and Pacific region energy markets and produces a Monthly Petroleum Price Review and the Pacific Fuel Price Monitor, which enable the 22 Pacific Island countries and territories to monitor and compare pricing in the region.<\/p>\n

To ensure current price decreases are fairly passed on to consumers, an SPC Petroleum Adviser is currently in the Cook Islands to review their fuel price template.<\/p>\n

The price template reflects an agreed methodology among Pacific Island countries and territories for calculating the price of fuel. With technical assistance from SPC, the template is reviewed regularly to take account of the dynamic nature of the petroleum sector.<\/p>\n

In the first quarter of 2015, SPC will also respond to requests from the governments of Tonga, Kiribati and Tuvalu to help review their petroleum pricing based on the template.<\/p>\n

\u201cFuel prices continue to be volatile. Ten years ago, consumers were concerned that prices had reached $60 per barrel. Four years later, the price had tripled, yet today we see prices back to around $64,\u201d Hogan said. \u201cThe projections are that pricing will continue its downward trend, pushing many in the industry to be uneconomical and exit.\u201d<\/p>\n

A new petroleum pricing manual introduced in December 2014 will familiarize petroleum pricing authorities in the Pacific with the terminologies, dynamics and realities of petroleum pricing. (SPC)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SUVA, Fiji\u2014The Secretariat of the Pacific Community is optimistic that cheaper oil prices will not…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[164,64,526,166],"class_list":["post-189776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","tag-fiji","tag-oil","tag-pacific-island","tag-spc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189776\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}