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Subject: Draft Revised UNFC-2008 and Draft Accompanying Explanatory Note From: Atle Tostensen, Statistics Norway and Oslo Group on Energy Statistics

20 February 2009
Dear Charlotte,

I am very sorry for the late reply, but we have been very busy with the Ottawa meeting of the Oslo Group.

These comments are made from the perspective of energy statistics in the context of official energy statistics and the work of the Oslo group on energy statistics.
  1. On terminology. In the agenda for the meeting in March you address the work of InterEnerStat on harmonization of terminology. I would recommend that when this terminology is in place that also UNFC use it in order to have consistent terminology throughout the data process from resources to final consumption.
     
  2. In table 2 and 3 you refer to sales production and non-sales production. How do you define the non-sales production?
     
  3. From an official energy statistics perspective I ask myself a few questions related to use of these data as part of official statistics with reference to reliability:

    a)   Who will evaluate and classify the resources according to the classification?
     

    b)   Will it be possible for an independent body to re-examine the data from which the classification is done?
     

    c)   Is it possible that the body doing the classification might have business/political agenda as a background for making the classification?

  4. For a country accumulating the resources available over a year, the annual change in resources is very interesting. As I see it, there are at least two different uses of these figures. First the change of resources due to production. Second the change in resources that comes from technical or economic changes. My question is if it will be possible to make available information in this system on how much of the change from one year to another that comes from different “sources”. If this is possible, I believe the usefulness of the data will increase.
     
  5. Finally related to production and coordination. In the work of the Oslo Group we work to define the “production” boundary for energy statistics. In economic statistics production is the saleable amount, but in energy statistics we also need data on flaring, reinjection, own use at the production site etc. This information is important to one of the main users of energy statistics - environmental statistical purposes such as emissions calculations. It is our aim to include all these elements, but a conclusion has not been drawn yet.

Best regards
Atle Tostensen,
Statistics Norway and Oslo Group on Energy Statistics