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12 March 2012

Oslo Group on Energy Statistics

Purpose

To establish a forum for the countries to address issues related to energy statistics and contribute to improved international standards and improved methods for official energy statistics by pooling expertise in the energy community.

Year organized

2006

Participants

Experts from energy statistics producers (statistical offices and other energy statistics producers) from several countries: Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greenland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, USA and Yemen. International organizations: United Nations Statistics Division, International Energy Agency (IEA), Eurostat, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and International Monetary Fund Statistics Departments.

Meetings

First meeting: Oslo, 6-8 February 2006

Second meeting: Delhi, 5-7 February 2007

Third meeting: Vienna, 4-6 February 2008

Fourth meeting: Ottawa, 2-6 February 2009

Fifth meeting: Cork, 1-4 February 2010

Sixth meeting: Canberra, 2-5 May 2011

Seventh meeting (planned): Helsinki, October 2012

Topics considered

  • User needs for energy statistics
  • Scope of official energy statistics
  • National best practices
  • Selected methodological and quality problems in energy statistics
  • Needs for harmonization of important energy statistics systems
  • Key content provider for the new UN manuals on energy statistics, International Recommendation on Energy Statistics (IRES) and Energy Statistics Compilers Manual (ESCM)
  • Methods for improving consistency in different statistic systems and reducing response burden

Products

Presentations, papers, reports and all draft documents prepared for meetings and in the process of revision of the UN energy statistics manuals are available on the Oslo Group Website: http://og.ssb.no.

The International Recommendations for Energy Statistic – IRES

The United Nations Statistical Commission, at its forty-second session held in New York, 22 to 25 February 2011, adopted the International Recommendations for Energy Statistics (IRES). IRES provides data compilers with a complete set of recommendations covering all aspects of the statistical production process framework, thus covering a range of topics from basic concepts, definitions and classifications to data sources, data compilation strategies, energy balances, energy accounts, data quality and statistical dissemination.

Template for Country Practices in Energy Statistics

As part of the preparation of the Energy Statistics Compilers Manual (ESCM), a country practice template has been developed by the Oslo Group in cooperation with UNSD. The template provides a common format for countries to report and share their practices in the collection, compilation and dissemination of energy statistics. The use of a common format is expected to facilitate the review and the comparisons of country practices and will feed into the preparation of the ESCM. The template is available at the Oslo Group Website as well as the UNSD Website.

Planned activities

The main activities of the Oslo Group in 2012 will be the collection of country practices and the drafting of chapters of the Energy Statistics Compilers Manual (ESCM). The ESCM is expected to provide practical guidance to assist countries in the implementation of IRES. As such, the ESCM will cover the conceptual framework, the institutional arrangements and the statistical production process for energy statistics. The draft outline of ESCM, presented at the 6 th Oslo Group Meeting, is available at the Oslo Group website. The ESCM is expected to be finalized in 2013.

As the ESCM is intended to be an integral part of the implementation process of both the IRES and the SEEA-Energy, the Oslo Group will closely collaborate with the London Group on Environmental Accounting.

In 2012 the secretariat, together with the UNSD, will organize the process for drafting the ESCM. The Oslo Group together with the London Group will be the main content providers to the ESCM. Responsibility for reviewing country practices, preparing textual inputs and writing the different chapters will be delegated to Oslo Group and London Group members on a voluntary basis.

The seventh meeting of the Oslo Group will be held in Helsinki, Finland in late October 2012 (date to be confirmed) and will be dedicated to discussing draft chapters for the ESCM. The meeting will also focus on cooperation with other groups, such as the London Group, and on the collection and review of national and international best practices.

Points of contact

Olav Ljones
Chair, Oslo Group on Energy Statistics
Statistics Norway
e-mail: olav.ljones@ssb.no

Elisabeth Isaksen
Secretariat leader, Oslo Group on Energy Statistics
Statistics Norway
e-mail: elisabeth.isaksen@ssb.no

Sigrid Hendriks Moe
Secretariat member, Oslo Group on Energy Statistics
Statistics Norway
e-mail: shm@ssb.no

Ann Christin Bøeng
Secretariat member, Oslo Group on Energy Statistics
Statistics Norway
e-mail: abg@ssb.no

The Oslo Group web site and discussion forum is available at: http://og.ssb.no.

Reporting to the UN Statistical Commission