The countries of the Association of Southeast Asia (ASEAN) are preparing to launch a joint system for storing petroleum derivatives starting in 2027, in a step aimed at enhancing regional energy security and ensuring the availability of supplies in emergency situations, by allowing the exchange of fuel between member states and benefiting from stocks held by companies in other countries.
The Japanese economic newspaper Nikkei reported on Thursday that the initial storage sites will be established in Indonesia and Thailand, with the first phase allowing the Philippines to purchase diesel and gasoline stored in the two countries when crises or supply interruptions occur.
Subsidiaries of the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) are expected to sign letters of intent with storage facility operators in Indonesia and Thailand on Saturday, in preparation for implementing the initiative.
A system that provides access to stocks
The program relies on a mechanism known as the “ticket” system, which allows participating countries or companies to pay advance fees in exchange for obtaining the right to purchase specific quantities of oil derivatives stored with companies in another country, when an emergency occurs.
This mechanism is used in the European Union, as it allows countries to secure access to supplies stored outside their borders, without the need to directly own storage facilities or fuel.
The initiative is led by the ASEAN and East Asian Economic Research Foundation (ERIA), an international research center established in Indonesia at the initiative of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Expanding the initiative to other countries
According to the report, Laos and East Timor are considering joining the program, which may expand in the future to include all ASEAN countries, while examining the possibility of including crude oil alongside refined products within the joint storage system.
Japan is pushing for this initiative to enhance energy security in the region, in the wake of the disruptions witnessed in oil supplies and trade as a result of the Iranian war, and the importance it demonstrated of diversifying sources of supply and providing regional arrangements to deal with disruptions.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is expected to announce cooperation in the field of joint oil storage during the Asia Zero Emissions Community Summit, scheduled to be held in Manila on November 17.
The initiative reflects a trend towards strengthening cooperation between Southeast Asian countries in managing energy risks, by creating mechanisms that allow benefiting from the reserves available in the region, instead of each country relying on its local reserves alone.
Speculation about Jensen Huang's future at the helm of Nvidia opens the door to questions about the person who could take over the leadership of one of the largest technology companies in the world, if the board of directors decides to end his executive presidency. While the company does not have, according to media reports, an announced succession plan, specialized circles are circulating a group of names that include current executives, members of the Huang family, and figures who have previously led major companies in the technology sector.
This speculation came after NVIDIA's board of directors held a meeting on Wednesday to discuss Huang's future in leadership of the company, according to what was reported by American media. The 63-year-old co-founder and CEO is facing increased scrutiny following reports of extramarital affairs, including allegations involving Alice Huang, a data center official who has been accused by US intelligence services of working for the Chinese Ministry of State Security. These accusations, in and of themselves, do not constitute proof of the validity of these allegations.
Leaders within Nvidia
Names coming from within the company appear to be among the options offered, given the experience of its officials in managing its business and their understanding of the nature of its operations. Colette Cress, Chief Financial Officer, stands out as one of the most widely discussed figures in this context, by virtue of her position within the company’s senior management and her supervision of its financial files, according to Agence France-Presse.
The name of Ian Buck, a veteran NVIDIA official, is also mentioned, who supervises the company's clients in the data center sector, and had a major role in developing the software that allows customers to operate its processors.
The name of Brian Catanzaro, vice president of applied research in deep learning, is also on the list of potential candidates, according to what was reported by the “Ink” business magazine.
Family members in the nominations department
Speculation is not limited to executive leadership, as it includes members of the Huang family. His daughter Madison, who holds the position of senior director of product marketing at NVIDIA, stands out after working for several years in the luxury goods group LVMH.
His son Spencer, who works as director of product management in the company's robotics unit, is also named.
Another notable name is Lisa Su, CEO of AMD, a competitor in the semiconductor sector, who is Huang's cousin. Su combines kinship and long executive experience in the chip industry, making her a name on the table in speculation regarding any possible change in Nvidia's leadership.
Options from outside the company
Outside of Nvidia, Rene Haas, CEO of the British chip design company ARM, stands out as one of the names covered by the specialized media.
The list also includes Tim Cook, former CEO of Apple, who left his position in August after 15 years leading the company. His name is being mentioned among the people who might be considered for the position, although his move to NVIDIA remains an uncertain possibility.
In the absence of an announced succession plan, these names remain within the framework of media speculation, while any possible change depends on the decision of the Board of Directors and the nature of the stage that the company may enter, whose expansion in the artificial intelligence market has been linked to Huang’s image and leadership since its founding in 1993.
Six months ago, American investor Christian Lamarco published a 40-page report in which he warned that Nvidia, the largest supplier of artificial intelligence processors in the world, was facing a fundamental problem in its business related to China. The report received little attention at the time, but the company's shares continued to rise until they reached record levels. But as the crisis surrounding its CEO, Jensen Huang, erupted, LaMarco's investigations returned to the forefront, and the investor who bet on the stock's decline became at the center of one of the most exciting stories in the technology sector. The Wall Street Journal, in a report published on Wednesday, narrates the path of LaMarco, who is 31 years old and founder of the investment research company Culper Research, which specializes in studying companies that are betting on the decline of their shares, through what is known as a short-selling strategy. He chose the name of his company as inspiration from an American spy network that operated during the War of Independence, in reference to his approach based on collecting information and investigating the details of companies before taking his investment positions. His thesis regarding NVIDIA was clear: the bet was not on the decline of the artificial intelligence boom, but rather on what he considered a defect in the company’s business linked to China. The report focused on questions about the company's business relationships in Southeast Asia, and also addressed what it described as a questionably close relationship between Huang and Alice Huang, an executive with one of the company's main trading partners in the region. But the timing of publishing the report last May was not conducive to attracting attention. On the same day, Huang arrived in Beijing on board the US presidential plane, Air Force One, as part of a visit to President Donald Trump, before NVIDIA stock recorded a new record high the next day. The markets did not move at that time, reflecting the size of the warnings contained in the report. Lamarco told the newspaper that interest in what the investor proposes may sometimes come too late, adding that what happened with the Nvidia report was an example of that. The questions he raised did not begin to gain widespread momentum until about half a year later. The shift came with the emergence of new reports and allegations regarding a personal relationship between Huang and Alice Huang, who has become the subject of suspicion regarding her possible work for the Chinese intelligence services. These developments re-shed light on what was mentioned in the Culper report regarding the nature of the relationship between the two parties, and on the risks that may arise from the company’s commercial engagements in China and Southeast Asia. This does not mean that the allegations circulating about espionage or a personal relationship have been proven true, but it has put what LaMarco had previously raised under a broader microscope, after those details were largely confined to an investment report that did not receive much attention when it was issued. According to the Wall Street Journal, LaMarco and his team of two analysts began working on the investigation after following previous press reports about the company, before they stopped the research for a while, because they believed that finding new information about the largest company in the world by market value is a difficult task. However, accusations leveled last March by the US authorities against officials at Super Microcomputer regarding smuggling processors from NVIDIA to China in violation of US export controls prompted the team to resume the investigation. According to the newspaper's account, the company relied on a network of experts who conducted interviews with former Nvidia employees, in addition to analyzing company records in Singapore and Malaysia and technical data, as well as reviewing photographic materials published on the Internet. After completing this work, LaMarco published his report in May, announcing that his company was taking an investment position betting on the decline of Nvidia’s stock. This was not Culber's first confrontation with major companies. Since its founding, it has targeted dozens of listed companies, most of them small businesses, with reports examining their financial and business practices. LaMarco previously faced a defamation lawsuit from a company specializing in the manufacture of glass and windows, after he accused it of having links with a Mexican drug cartel. He also tried to bet a million dollars with American TV presenter Jimmy Fallon regarding the use of electric air taxis produced by the company “Archer Aviation”, on which he was betting that its stock would fall. With the Nvidia report returning to the spotlight, communications with Marco doubled, who said that the amount of interaction with his investigation this time was unprecedented for him. He also stopped notifications from his account on the X platform after his posts garnered millions of views, and he rejected several requests to conduct television interviews. The newspaper notes that Nvidia's market value has declined by more than a trillion dollars, and its stock has fallen by about 20 percent since the publication of the Culper report. But whether LaMarco made money on his bet remains unclear; He declined to reveal the return he achieved, or whether he still maintains a short selling position in the stock. On the other hand, the story reveals the role that small investment research firms can play in raising questions about giant technology companies, even if those questions do not resonate immediately upon publication. For LaMarco, the challenge was not to prove that the artificial intelligence boom will end, but rather to convince investors that Nvidia's pivotal position in this boom does not exempt it from the risks of its business and commercial relationships.
