Trilateral Energy Security Committee
The Trilateral Energy Security Committee (TESC) is a strategic research initiative led by the Hamm Institute for American Energy at Oklahoma State University to strengthen energy security cooperation among the United States, South Korea, and Japan. TESC brings together experts across policy, markets, and technology to evaluate shared vulnerabilities and develop practical, coordinated solutions for a more secure and resilient energy future in the Indo-Pacific.
Energy security has become a central geopolitical and economic issue for U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific, especially South Korea and Japan, which rely heavily on imported energy and face exposure to supply disruptions, market volatility, and policy shifts. TESC was created to address these risks through trilateral collaboration, grounded in research and focused on actionable policy and investment strategies.
Anchored by the Hamm Institute and developed in partnership with OSU Global and international research organizations, TESC includes expertise from the Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI) and the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ). The initiative examines urgent energy security challenges facing key U.S. allies and identifies areas where trilateral coordination can improve resilience, affordability, and long-term strategic stability.
Research Focus, Approach, and Publications
TESC takes a phased research approach that examines energy security through multiple lenses, including LNG and fuel security, small modular reactors (SMRs) and regulatory coordination, critical minerals supply chains, trilateral investment priorities, and emerging technologies such as hydrogen and ammonia. The work combines policy analysis, market evaluation, expert interviews, and quantitative modeling to produce decision-useful frameworks for governments, industry leaders, and strategic partners.
TESC publishes white papers, strategic frameworks, and policy-focused research designed to support stronger trilateral coordination across energy systems, infrastructure planning, and supply chain resilience. Recent work includes LNG security and market coordination, SMR deployment pathways and regulatory harmonization, critical minerals supply chains and trilateral investment coordination, and broader energy security strategy in Northeast Asia.
TESC Research and Reports
TESC. Uranium Processing Supply Chain Security: A Framework for Trilateral Investment Coordination
(June 2026) Examines uranium supply chain vulnerabilities affecting the United States, Japan and South Korea, with particular focus on concentrated conversion, enrichment and high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) capacity. Recommends a trilateral strategy to expand allied midstream processing, aggregate long-term demand, strengthen upstream access and reduce dependence on Russian and Chinese fuel-cycle services.
TESC. The 2026 Strait of Hormuz Disruption: Impacts on the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea, and a Trilateral Path to Resilience
(May 2026) Examines the energy security impacts of a Strait of Hormuz disruption on the U.S., Japan, and South Korea, and recommends a trilateral resilience strategy focused on price stabilization, strategic reserves, LNG infrastructure, export capacity, and allied coordination.
Near Term Oil and Gas Supply Surplus Uncertainties: A Glut, a Buffer, or Something Different?
(March 2026) This opinion editorial argues that the apparent near-term oil and gas glut may be a fragile buffer, with LNG especially exposed to volatility and energy security risk.
Critical Minerals Supply Chain Security: A Framework for Trilateral Investment Coordination
(Feb. 2026) A trilateral investment framework for critical mineral supply chains, prioritizing coordinated decisions across value-chain stages and geographies to improve resilience and complementarity.
Appendices
Economic Evaluation of LNG Potential in Vietnam
(Jan. 2026) Concludes that Vietnam’s fast-rising power demand will require significant LNG-to-power buildout and that dispatch, tariff, and fuel-cost reforms are critical to project financeability.
Securing Energy Leadership through SMR Innovation: Strategic Insights for the U.S., Japan, and South Korea
(Dec. 2025) Examines how trilateral regulatory alignment, alongside financing, supply chain, and public acceptance reforms, can accelerate SMR commercialization across the U.S., Japan, and South Korea.
Investment Priorities: Strategic Framework for US-Korea-Japan Collaboration
(Oct. 2025) Identifies tiered trilateral investment priorities, especially in critical minerals processing and workforce capacity, to reduce supply-chain dependence and strengthen shared energy security.
Securing Critical Mineral Supply Chains: Lessons from Japan and Opportunities for Trilateral Cooperation
(May 2025) Uses Japan’s experience to recommend trilateral strategies, including processing, recycling, stockpiling, and allied coordination, to reduce critical mineral supply-chain vulnerability.
Trilateral Pathways to SMR Deployment: A Strategic Framework for U.S.-South Korea-Japan Cooperation
(May 2025) Concludes that the Triad should pursue shared SMR standards, joint pre-licensing, and regulatory harmonization to speed deployment and reduce costs through standardization.
Securing the Future of LNG: Challenges and Collaborative Solutions for the U.S., South Korea, and Japan
(April 2025) Evaluates LNG market volatility and interdependence and calls for stronger U.S.-Japan-Korea coordination to support allied energy security and long-term competitiveness.
Changing the Game: Energy Security and Geopolitical Alliances
(Feb. 2025) Maps energy security risks facing the U.S., Japan, and South Korea and outlines cooperative strategies on supply chains, diversification, and trade resilience.
Contact
To learn more or discuss collaboration, contact us at info@hamminstitute.org.