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.