Asia-Pacific is shifting towards sourcing energy outside the region

Crude oil, coal, and gas imports have doubled.

As Asia-Pacific's economic prominence grows, so grows its demand for and trade in energy, with China accounting for a big part of it, said Standard & Poor's Ratings Services recently.

According to one commentary published today titled, "Asia-Pacific Energy Trade: A Hungry Region Extends Its Global Footprint," countries in the region are turning increasingly to energy resources outside to meet their needs.

Here's more from Standard & Poor's:

Crude oil, coal, and gas imports in Asia-Pacific have doubled as a percentage of total imports over the 20 years to 2012. Although Asia-Pacific is sourcing more for energy outside the region, its needs for refined petroleum are being met increasingly from within.

Oil is the largest component of Asia-Pacific's energy trade by a wide margin, and has accounted for the lion's share of the increase in trade shares over the past two decades. The commodity constitutes about three-fourths of the total energy trade on both the import and export sides.

"Most of the expansion in energy trade in our 20-year sample occurred in the past decade, particularly in 2002-2007 when global prices were rising quickly, although the trend continued through 2012," said Paul Gruenwald, Standard & Poor's chief economist, Asia-Pacific. "The steep growth in energy trade is not simply a price phenomenon; it is also volume."