14th International JODI Conference

Hosted by the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Egypt, the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI) Partners organised the 14th International JODI Conference (IJC14) in Cairo, Egypt on 20 – 21 October 2019. HE Tarek El-Molla, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources opened the conference along with HE Sun Xiansheng, Secretary General of the International Energy Forum (IEF). From its founding at the 7th IEF Ministerial in Saudi Arabia in 2000, JODI has consistently delivered on calls for “improved and timely access to energy data for market assessment and transparency” in line with requests from ministers. 

This 14th biennial conference gathered 140 stakeholders in addition to the JODI Partner Organisations (APEC, Eurostat, GECF, IEA, IEF, OLADE, & OPEC) and JODI Associate (OAPEC). The stakeholders included representatives of national and international oil and gas companies, governments, and data users from around the world.

The two-day ICJ14 debated how JODI could improve on delivering free, accessible, official energy data on a monthly basis with the support of the seven JODI Partner Organisations. ICJ14 Participants noted:

1. The unique nature of the JODI platform that features 10 000 Oil & Gas Data Points submitted by more than 100 countries each month and covers 90 percent of oil and gas supply and demand.
   
2. The importance of the timely and robust energy data JODI provides to reduce energy market volatility and enable the achievement of orderly energy transitions through better informed policy and investment decisions.
   
3. The need for enhanced dialogue and collaboration to strengthen institutional capacity and improve understanding of energy data for tracking progress on achieving shared policy goals, including through better research data and comparative analysis of outlooks.
4. JODI Capacity Building Workshops in key regions around the world remain important. Moreover, JODI could further enhance visibility and improve user interfaces through online outreach initiatives including online training tools and the use of social media to enhance capabilities and brand awareness.
5. ICJ14 participants reaffirmed their commitment to work collectively for enhanced energy data under the JODI Framework and considered including more granular energy data on oil and gas products, energy trade flows and expanding the JODI portal to capture data beyond oil and gas.

The key findings and operational outcomes of the conference will be reflected in the ICJ14 Concluding Statement. These will be taken forward as part of the next JODI Five-Year Action Plan that will guide the JODI Partners in taking the initiative forward over the 2020-2025 period upon the endorsement of the Heads of the JODI Partner Organisations meetings prior to the 17th International Energy Forum Ministerial (IEF17) that Saudi Arabia will host with Morocco and Nigeria as co-host in 2020.