June 11, 2002	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 29, 1423

KUALA LUMPUR, June 10: Malaysia, an oil producer and promoter of a massive regional gas pipeline, on Monday urged fellow ASEAN nations to increase energy cooperation in the face of threats to supply.

The current risk of supply disruption is very real and may perhaps carry greater repercussions than the 1973 oil embargo, Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told an energy conference.

ASEAN should review the ASEAN petroleum security agreement ...to minimise exposure towards emergency situations owing to short term shortages in petroleum supply, Abdullah said.

He cited the Israel-Palestinian crisis, threats of terrorism and high-running tensions between India and Pakistan as factors that could lead to supply disruptions.

The two-day 7th Asia Oil & Gas Conference is the first major gathering of Asian oil company leaders since the September 11 attack on the United States.

Politics and economic factors largely outside the industry’s control have rocked oil prices since the September assaults and sent them swinging between $18 and almost $30 a barrel.

Asia pumps only around one-third of its crude requirements of some 20 million barrels per day (bpd) and is dependent on the Middle East for 70 to 80 per cent of imports.

President and CEO Hassan Marican of Malaysia’s state oil company Petronas, said measures underway include a review of the Association of South East Asian Nations oil security agreement and closer upstream cooperation.

What the 21st century oil and gas industry needs is not only a dynamic business plan, but also real time strategies that could swiftly respond to different scenarios, Hassan said.

He said the ASEAN energy security pact needed urgent review following expansion of the the group of Southeast Asian countries — Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Brunei, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines and Myanmar .

The key thing is that ASEAN today is made up of 10 member countries compared to the four or five countries when this concept was introduced, Hassan said.

It’s timely for this provision to be relooked, redefined. It would result in a new set of understanding.—Reuters