ASEAN, China, Japan, South Korea mull oil stockpile

Ministers from 13 east Asian countries pledged to shore up energy security in the wake of record oil prices and said they would work towards sealing a world free trade agreement in Hong Kong later this year.

The trade and economic ministers from the 10-nation ASEAN block plus China, Japan and South Korea also raised the prospect of an East Asian oil stockpile as a means of combating future oil price shocks. "The ministers shared a common concern at the soaring oil price on the recovering Asian economy and its negative effects on economic growth," they said in a statement.

Japan, the only country in the region to already have its own oil stockpile, said it was taking seriously the threat posed to energy security by record costs and potential supply disruptions.

Oil and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) conference to be held in Hong Kong this December dominated talks with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its three, economically powerful, northern neighbours. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and is aiming to create a fully integrated economic community by 2020.

- Having a strategic petroleum reserve like the USA's one is a good idea; always good to have some reserves you can call upon. They ought to have done this a lot earlier though, before oil shot up to the $60-$70 levels nowadays - it's gonna be rather expensive to start accumulating hundreds of millions of barrels at these prices. Still, as the cliche goes, better late than never.

(2005-09-29 22:49:34 SGT) [Energy] Permalink

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