Japan seeks oil reserves in SE Asia

Japan seeks oil reserves in SE Asia

TOKYO (Nikkei): The government is considering establishing
oil-storage facilities in Southeast Asian nations to help ensure
a steady flow to them and Japan in the event of a regional oil
shortage, it was learned Friday, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun
reported in its Saturday morning edition.

Petroleum consumption is surging in Asia, deepening fears that
Japan's oil supply could be threatened.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has begun
bilateral talks with officials from such countries as Thailand
and Malaysia on the possibility of providing technical know-how
and money to build storage facilities.

Details of the plan will be in a report to be drawn up this
month by an energy security panel of the ministry's Advisory
Committee for Natural Resources and Energy.

Under a plan now being studied, Japan will offer to send
experts to Thailand, which effectively has no oil-reserve
facilities.

Japan may also hold separate talks with Malaysia and Indonesia
about the possibility of creating a temporary storage facility
for emergency use.

Malaysia and Indonesia form the bulk of the Malacca Strait, a
narrow corridor connecting the Pacific and Indian oceans that has
considerable strategic importance.

Asia's oil consumption, which in 1973 accounted for 14 percent
of the global total, is forecast to more than double to 32
percent in 2020.