ASEAN, East Asia warn on need for stronger energy security
ASEAN, East Asia warn on need for stronger energy security
Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur
Top energy officials and experts from Southeast Asian nations
and China, Japan and South Korea warned on Tuesday of the need to
strengthen energy security in the face of growing demand.
They called for "individual and multilateral efforts for
greater emergency preparedness in the short-term, greater energy
efficiency, diversification of types and sources and development
of indigenous petroleum in the long term".
The recommendation came at the end of a two-day meeting of
officials and oil company experts from the 10-member Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their northern
counterparts who together make up a grouping known as ASEAN-plus-
Three.
Their conclusions will be forwarded to a meeting of energy
ministers from the 13 nations early next month on Langkawi island
in northern Malaysia.
"In Asia, the time will come when oil production will no
longer be sustained to support increasing demand," Malaysia's
representative, Halim Shafie, told the workshop here.
Diversification to other fuels such as natural gas, as well as
stockpiling and the development of new and renewable energy
sources were some possible solutions, he said.
Japan's Yasuo Tanabe of the ministry of economy, trade and
industry urged the participants to consider ways and means of
enhancing regional energy security and areas of joint
cooperation.
A draft summary of the meeting said the experts recognized
that energy demand in Asia, especially for oil, would increase
rapidly along with economic expansion in the region.
It said participants agreed that the primary goal of enhancing
cooperation was to ensure a stable supply of energy at a
reasonable cost in an environmentally friendly manner.
They agreed to establish four groups with coordinators from
selected countries to study issues including security, oil supply
and demand and the use of natural gas.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.