Reference Territory

In general, “reference territory” defines the geographical scope of the statistics compiled and the criteria for allocating selected statistics to a particular territory [IRES, Ch. II, para. 2.14, PDF p. 32, 2018]. Energy statistics have historically responded to policy concerns about the physical availability of energy and its uses within a country’s territory, so the allocation criteria follow the physical location of the units involved [IRES, Ch. II, para. 2.14, PDF p. 32, 2018].

Definition

The reference territory used in energy statistics and energy balances is the national territory, defined as the geographic territory under the effective economic control of the national government. It comprises:

(a) The land area; (b) Airspace; (c) Territorial waters, including areas over which jurisdiction is exercised through fishing rights and rights to fuels or minerals.

[IRES, Ch. II, para. 2.14, PDF p. 32, 2018]

In a maritime territory, the economic territory includes islands that belong to the territory. The national territory also includes any free trade zones, bonded warehouses or factories operated by enterprises under customs control within the areas above [IRES, Ch. II, para. 2.15, PDF p. 32, 2018].

The foreign-enclave convention

By convention, territorial enclaves of other countries — e.g., embassies, consulates, military bases, scientific stations — are treated as part of the national territory in which they are physically located [IRES, Ch. II, para. 2.15, PDF p. 32, 2018]. This differs from the treatment in national accounts, where such enclaves are excluded from the host country’s economic territory [IRES, Ch. II, para. 2.15, footnote 16, PDF p. 32, 2018].

Relationship to economic territory in the SNA and BPM6

The reference territory recommended for energy statistics largely approximates the economic territory of a country as used in economic statistics generally (see the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6), para. 4.5, and SNA 2008, para. 4.11) [IRES, Ch. II, para. 2.16, PDF p. 33, 2018]. However, the economic-territory concept used in economic statistics (including energy accounts) is applied in conjunction with the concept of the residence of the economic unit — the determining factor there in allocating statistics to the economic territory — whereas energy statistics allocate on physical location instead [IRES, Ch. II, para. 2.16, PDF p. 33, 2018].

Related

• Scope of Energy Statistics — the reference territory is the geographic boundary within which basic energy statistics and energy balances are compiled
• International Recommendations for Energy Statistics — the standard defining this concept
• Energy Accounts — deepens the territory-vs-residence contrast introduced here: energy balances use this page’s territory principle, while SEEA-Energy accounts use the residence principle instead, with consequences for imports/exports, bunkers, and use by residents abroad/non-residents in the territory [IRES, Ch. XI, paras 11.7–11.11, PDF p. 149, 2018]