Organizers at a meeting in early June in Indonesia will be reviewing the beta testing of an international natural gas database expected to be launched to the public later this year. About 70 countries representing about 75% of global natural gas supply and demand are currently submitting data to the JODI-Gas (Joint Organizations Data Initiative) database on a monthly basis. JODI-Gas joins JODI-Oil, which has been in operation for 10 years providing information on oil production, consumption and trade movements. The database initiative is designed to increase transparency of oil and gas supply and demand. The agenda at the Third Gas Data Transparency Conference June 4-5 in Indonesia will also involve an expert review of the final draft of the JODI-Gas Training Manual, and establishing a timeline for the public launch the JODI-Gas database later this year. Organizations involved in the data and transparency initiative include the International Energy Forum, Eurostat, the International Energy Agency, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the Latin American Energy Organization, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and the United Nations statistics division.

The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) made it through another regular session of the Texas Legislature after being rescued by catch-all legislation that included a provision to keep the agency four years until its next review by the state’s Sunset Advisory Commission. Lawmakers failed again this year to pass sunset legislation related to the commission (see Daily GPI, May 16; April 29), and that had put the agency’s future in doubt until a measure passed to keep agencies running when sunset votes fail.

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