MANILA, July 20 — For communities across Southeast Asia, the fuel that powers daily life—from motorbikes in Hanoi to jeepneys in Manila and factory belts in Bangkok—tells a story of heavy dependence on resources beyond the region’s own ground. The region produces oil, but it consumes far more than it pumps.
According to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy (2023), ASEAN nations together produced about 2.8 million barrels per day in 2022, against consumption of 5.6 million barrels per day, leaving a gap of 2.8 million barrels per day that must be filled by imports.
A Region of Producers and Consumers
Looking at the numbers, the picture is one of imbalance. Indonesia is the largest producer at about 660,000 barrels per day, followed by Malaysia at 580,000, Vietnam at 210,000, and Thailand at 150,000. Yet Indonesia is also the region’s biggest consumer, using about 1.5 million barrels daily, followed closely by Thailand at 1.2 million and Singapore at 1.4 million.
That last figure is notable: Singapore’s consumption is driven not by roads or power plants alone but by its role as a refining hub, processing crude for export across Asia. Malaysia consumes about 850,000 barrels a day, and Vietnam about 550,000.
What this means for families and businesses is that any disruption to oil supplies is felt fast—at the pump, in electricity costs, in the price of goods moved by truck and ship. Closer to home, for a Filipino household, these regional flows determine how much you pay for a liter of gasoline or a ride on a bus.
Refining Might and Import Dependency
The region’s total refining capacity stands at about 6.7 million barrels per day, with Singapore’s 1.5 million barrels per day being the largest single hub. But that capacity relies overwhelmingly on crude oil shipped in from the Middle East. More than 80 percent of ASEAN’s crude imports come from that region—primarily Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.
There is only one practical maritime pathway for those tankers: the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow channel between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration lists it as the world’s most important chokepoint for oil transit. Global oil trade is about 100 million barrels per day, and Hormuz handles about 20 million of that. For Southeast Asia, the alternatives are grim: bypassing Hormuz via the Cape of Good Hope would add about 6,000 nautical miles and 10 to 12 days of sailing.
That means higher shipping costs, longer delivery times, and greater exposure to price volatility and geopolitical risk.
Strategic Reserves and Energy Security
Given this dependency, one would expect substantial emergency stockpiles. Yet ASEAN’s strategic petroleum reserves total only about 30 days of net imports. The International Energy Agency (IEA), founded in 1974, recommends members hold at least 90 days of net imports.
Of the ten ASEAN states, only four—Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore—are candidate members of the IEA. The rest are not part of that framework, meaning many countries in the region have even thinner cushions against a supply shock.
For communities across Southeast Asia, these are not abstract numbers. A disruption in the Strait of Hormuz—whether due to conflict, piracy, or political tension—could ripple through the region within weeks. Gasoline prices would spike, industries would slow, and the cost of imported goods would rise.
For a region that is both a producer and a net importer, the challenge is to build resilience while also pursuing alternatives that reduce that reliance. Looking ahead, the push for renewable energy in ASEAN is often framed in terms of clean air and conservation—values that matter deeply.
But from an energy-security standpoint, renewables also offer a way to cut the region’s exposure to distant chokepoints and volatile global markets. The path forward, many analysts argue, is not just about producing more oil but about diversifying the energy mix, strengthening storage capacity, and forging deeper cooperation among neighbors. For the families and businesses that depend on affordable, reliable power, those steps can’t come soon enough.
