07-08-08 Southeast Asian energy ministers will join with Japan, South Korea and China to set up an oil stockpiling working group, according to the draft of a joint ministerial statement.
The Association of the South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) energy ministers' annual meeting in Bangkok is focusing on energy security at a time when the region's oil imports are rising and prices are near record highs. Ministers recognise the necessity of oil stockpiling initiatives, but that these will be voluntary and non-binding.

ASEAN has been looking at oil stockpiling for several years, but no country has initiated strategic reserves to help deal with supply disruptions. The working group, put in place with the assistance of the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (Jogmec), will hold its first meeting in late November in Manila, Philippines.
The Philippines has offered to be the centre of regional stockpiling facilities, said Zenaida Monsada, director of the oil industry management bureau at the Philippines Department of Energy, as it stands at the centre of Southeast Asia.

The statement also welcomes increased coal co-operation as reliance on it grows in the region, and ASEAN looks for diversification of its energy sources. Energy ministers also praised countries which have started cutting costly fuel subsidies. These include Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand.
"Moving towards phased and gradual withdrawal of price subsidies for conventional energies is desirable because market-based energy pricing helps markets send the appropriate signals to enhance energy efficiency and increase investment in alternative energy sources," the draft statement says.

The ASEAN countries include Burma, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.