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Mexico is the most energy secure nation among the world’s 25 biggest energy consumers, reported the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in a recent study of the largest energy-consuming countries.
The Latin American country, which has monopoly power over its oil production and sales, was closely followed by the UK, Norway, New Zealand, Denmark, Australia and the United States, in that order.
The government-owned Petroleos Mexicanos ranks among the world’s largest oil companies while Mexico’s energy expenditures and carbon-dioxide emissions per person are relatively small, says the report that reviews data from 1980 to 2010.
Using a baseline of 1,000 points, with lower scores representing higher energy security, the Chamber ranked countries using criteria such as fuel import levels, energy expenditure, price and market volatility, energy use intensity and environmental costs.
According to the report, the nation where energy security risk is the highest is Ukraine, followed by Thailand, South Korea, the Netherlands, Brazil, Italy, Turkey and Japan.
China, the world’s second-largest economy, ranked 15th on the overall list.
“China’s domestic energy production has not been able to keep pace with demand, and it imports a growing portion of the fuel it uses,” according to the report.
Canada figured in the eighth position, just slightly behind the average score of developed OECD (Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development) countries and a little better than Germany, Indonesia and France.
“On balance, Canada’s energy security is about average, but it has tremendous potential to improve its own security,” the study says, adding efficient development of oil sands is key.
“Much will depend, however, on market conditions and the development of necessary infrastructure to bring this oil to international markets, including pipeline infrastructure to move this oil from Alberta to U.S. markets via the Keystone XL pipeline and to Asian markets via the Northern Gateway pipeline to Canada’s West Coast.”
Both projected pipelines have drawn strong antagonism.
The full study can be accessed here.
