Originally named the Joint Oil Data Exercise (JODE) it was launched in 2001 in response to a call by Ministers at the 7th IEF in Riyadh to address the apparent lack of transparency in oil market data perceived to be a causal factor in excessive price fluctuations.

The exercise was the product of co-operation between six pioneer organizations, the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC), the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat), the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Latin-American Energy Organization (OLADE), the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the United Nations (through the UN Statistics Division).

Established as a permanent mechanism in 2003 and renamed as the Joint Oil Data Initiative, JODI is now an IEF flagship activity. The Secretariat assumed responsibility for co-ordinating the initiative and managing the JODI World Database in January 2005.

The JODI World Database freely accessible at www.jodidata.org now covers more than 90 countries, representing more than 90 percent of global supply and demand. The JODI partner organisations submit monthly data to the IEFS on production, refining, trade, demand and stocks of seven product categories: crude oil, LPG, gasoline, kerosene, diesel oil, fuel oil and total oil.

The JODI World Database is a visible and very valuable element of the initiative, but there is much more to JODI than collecting and releasing monthly oil statistics.

The initiative has played an important role in raising political awareness of the difficulties encountered in improving data reliability and timeliness. The IEFS and its JODI partners are active in building, under-pinning, and improving the statistical infrastructure necessary to meet the evolving demands of the data transparency challenge. The initiative has come a long way in a short time, but by necessity and design it remains a dynamic work-in-progress.

Knowledge Transfer

Partner organizations conduct regional training workshops on JODI to offer statisticians and experts from participating countries an opportunity to clarify and improve their knowledge of definitions, data quality assessment and oil data issues; and to share their experience on data validation best practices or data collection issues.

Moreover, the IEF Secretariat hosts JODI Internships at its Headquarters in Riyadh, for officials from developing countries with direct responsibility for oil market statistics.

Training workshops and internships are also an opportunity to present JODI to representatives of countries that do not yet participate in the initiative. This is an ongoing programme with the objective of reinforcing understanding of and support for JODI thereby expanding its geographical coverage over time.

Ease of Access

JODI is a global initiative. English is its official language, but transparency is paramount and the manual prepared by the partner organizations on the definitions and methodology used in JODI is now available in English, French and Spanish with other languages being added as necessary.

The JODI website ( www.jodidata.org ) was recently redesigned to improve ease of use and accessibility. Organizations and participating countries are working on an expanded JODI questionnaire, agreed at the 6th JODI Conference which disaggregates the existing flows and products.

Next Steps...

A lot of progress has been already made throughout the whole JODI data collection and dissemination process. However, there is still ample room for improvement for some countries—both producers and consumers. To improve data transparency in the oil market, all flows, including stocks, for all products, must be consistently delivered in a timely and accurate manner.

JODI is international ambition translated into deed. The initiative is strong and has great potential. Ministers are strong public advocates of data transparency, but the next step requires political action as well as political support. If JODI is to live up to expectations they must also ensure that behind the scenes their administrations are encouraged and empowered to deliver timely and accurate data.

JODI DATA