IRES, version 0: an overview

1. IRES, version 0: an overview Vladimir Markhonko United Nations Statistics Division The Oslo Group on Energy Statistics Fifth meeting, Cork, Ireland, 1-4 February 2010

2. Outline • Summary of the processes leading to the current draft • Overview of IRES • Work ahead during this meeting

3. I. Summary of the processes leading to the current draft Decisions of the 40 session of the UN Statistical Commission (24-27 February 2009) • The Commission welcomed the report of the Secretary General on the preparation of the revised and updated international recommendations for energy statistics • Expressed its appreciation for the work accomplished so far by United Nations Statistics Division, the Oslo Group on Energy Statistics, the Inter-secretariat Working Group on Energy Statistics and other stakeholders;

4. The Commission endorsed the United Nations Statistics Division’s strategy to prepare IRES including: • The preparation of IRES as a joint effort of the Oslo Group, InterEnerStat and UNSD; • Worldwide consultation with countries (NSO’s and energy agencies/ministries) on the provisional draft of IRES; • Conduct of the 2nd ad hoc meeting of the UN Expert Group on energy statistics. Suggested that the preparation of IRES be considered as a matter of high priority

5. Emphasized that the revised recommendations should provide a firm foundation for the long-term development of official energy statistics based on the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and contain the necessary guidance on the underlying concepts, definition and classifications as well as on data compilation and data dissemination in the context of an integrated approach to economic statistics; Stressed the importance of countries’ involvement in the preparation of the recommendations and encouraged countriesto actively participate in the drafting process by providing their contributions

6. The Commission endorsed the following division of the responsibilities: • The Statistics Division will coordinate the revision process, to conduct a worldwide consultation, to consolidate and to edit inputs into the successive versions of the draft IRES and submit the final draft of IRES to the Commission. • The Oslo Group and the InterEnerStat are the key content providers to IRES and ESCM in accordance with the mandates given to them by the Commission. The Commission endorsed its multiyear programme of work with IRES scheduled for consideration by the Commission at its 42nd session (February 2011)

7. Feb 09 – 4th Oslo Group Meeting, Canada Preliminary drafts and annotated outlines of IRES chapters were discussed as well as selected issues which were identified in the 3rd OG meeting Chapter teams were created to prepare revised chapters for the 5th OG meeting May 09 – Meeting of the sub group on energy balances, Norway The meeting identified the main elements for chapter 8 and set up a working plan and share responsibilities for the drafting

8. Oct 09 – InterEnerStat meeting, Paris Revised harmonized definitions were discussed and in Dec. definitions were circulated for another (final) round of comments Sept and Nov 09 – The Oslo Group virtual meetings The meetings reviewed all chapters and provided additional inputs; they are incorporated in IRES, version 0

9. II. Overview of IRES Chapter 1 – Introduction Practically done; only minor amendments are expected Chapter 2 – Scope of Energy Statistics Mostly done, but the conclusions of OG4 and the 1st virtual meeting on scope need to be looked at again to clarify boundary of IRES scope including, for example, treatment in IRES of energy reserves and additional data items needed for energy accounts. Chapter 3 – Standard International Energy Classification Based on the definitions of InterEnerStat a classification structure is being proposed for discussion taking into accounts general principles for international classifications

10. Chapter 4 – Measurement units and conversion factors Mostly agreed. The chapter now refers to ‘default’ (rather than ‘standard’) calorific values. As suggested during the 1st Virtual Meeting, reference to cal. values from the 2006 IPCC guidelines is made in the text and should be discussed. Chapter 5 – Energy flows This is the 1st draft of the chapter. It covers definitions of the energy industries and energy consumers as well as definitions of the flows relevant for the data items in chapter 6.

11. Chapter 6 – Statistical units and data items Data items are presented in 5 groups. Data items on stocks and flows are organized by groups of energy products (based on the general approach in the EU regulation on Energy Statistics) There may be the need to include data items on Nuclear fuels The list of data items is presented for discussion Chapter 7 – Data compilation and collection strategies Mostly done; textual inputs from the VM were included

12. Chapter 8 – Energy balances Mostly agreed. A general format for an energy balance is presented as endorsed by the EB subgroup. However, some questions need to be discussed before the finalization of the chapter Chapter 9 – Data quality Mostly agreed. The chapter has been revised taking into account the comments form the Virtual meeting and reflects the work done at Statistics Canada on the Data Quality Assurance for the UN Statistical Commission

13. Chapter 10 – Data dissemination Mostly agreed. Inputs from the Virtual Meeting have been included Chapter 11 –Use of Basic Energy Statistics and Energy Balances in the Compilation of Energy Accounts and other Statistics Draft incorporates inputs from the 2nd virtual meeting; further discussion is needed on the chapter’s structure and the balance between its various sections.

14. III. Work ahead during the 5th Oslo Group meeting Substantive review of all chapters; we need to agree on all outstanding substantive issues to facilitate the preparation of the provisional draft of IRES for a worldwide consultation in mid 2010. • Are there elements missing that should be included? • Are there elements that should be removed and addressed in ESCM? • Do you agree on the recommendations and encouragements formulated in the current text?

15. Thank You very much for your kind attention!