Atlanta, Oct 31 (IANS) Japan urged G20 countries to strengthen oil stockpiles and keep energy trade free and transparent, while outlining plans for closer cooperation with Gulf nations to improve energy security.
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi presented the proposals during a session on energy and economic growth at the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Atlanta, according to an official Japanese readout.
His intervention focused on international coordination to address energy supply instability affecting Asian countries and on closer cooperation between producing and consuming nations.
The session discussed energy security, including the current energy crisis against the backdrop of developments in the Middle East.
Motegi identified three priorities: ensuring free and transparent energy trade, strengthening oil stockpiles through international coordination, and improving cooperation between energy producers and consumers.
He said the G20, which accounts for more than 80 per cent of global gross domestic product and energy consumption, shared responsibility for addressing the crisis.
Japan also disclosed that it was formulating a comprehensive cooperation plan with Gulf countries to strengthen their economic and energy resilience. The readout did not specify a timetable, funding amount or the countries that would participate.
The proposed plan formed part of Japan’s broader approach to connecting Middle Eastern oil producers with Asian consumers, Motegi said.
Japan intended to play an active role in that relationship through cooperation covering energy supplies, storage and infrastructure, according to the account of his remarks.
Motegi pointed to work already under way to expand stockpiles in Asia. He also cited Japanese financing and engineering cooperation for desalination plants and liquefied natural gas liquefaction facilities in Middle Eastern countries.
Deepening those activities would contribute to global energy security, he said.
The minister presented Japan’s existing POWERR Asia initiative as another part of its response to supply instability. Its work covers immediate energy supplies, stronger regional stockpiling systems over the medium and long term, and diversification of energy sources.
The Japanese account described Asian countries as heavily affected by unstable supplies. It did not identify any new allocation or project specifically for India.
Motegi’s intervention therefore set out a regional approach, combining measures intended to meet immediate supply needs with efforts to strengthen storage and diversify sources over a longer period.
Motegi urged all G20 members to coordinate closely to ensure stable energy supplies and said Japan was determined to contribute. His remarks placed producer–consumer cooperation alongside trade and stockpiling as the central elements of that effort.
Japan launched POWERR Asia in April, several months before the Atlanta meeting. Friday’s presentation described activities being advanced under that initiative; it was not an announcement launching a new programme.
The energy discussion was held as Session 2 of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Atlanta. In his remarks, Motegi described the G20 as the premier forum for international economic cooperation and stressed its role in bringing members together over energy supply challenges.
–IANS
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