Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

Members of the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC), including Japan, Australia, Indonesia and Vietnam, are set to agree on a framework for the coordinated release of oil reserves during emergencies, sources said.

The member nations are also expected to agree on expanding their oil reserves.

The initiative is also meant to deepen cooperation on energy security amid the Middle East situation, in order to decrease the risk of supply disruptions for petroleum products between member nations.

The countries are expected to reach an agreement during the AZEC ministerial meeting on Thursday in Manila. AZEC, an organization promoting decarbonization in Asia, comprises 11 members -- all from Southeast Asia except Japan and Australia.

The Japanese government plans to provide support, including funds and technology, to other member nations to help them expand their oil reserves.

On the sidelines of the ministerial meeting, AZEC will host an ad-hoc conference attended by representatives from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The two governments are expected to announce that they will support oil reserves in Asia.

The Japanese government has begun a joint oil stockpiling program, in which it leases storage tanks in Japan to oil companies based in oil-producing nations such as Saudi Arabia for crude oil storage. Other AZEC members may refer to this initiative and other measures taken by Japan.

Southeast Asia relies heavily on the Middle East for crude oil procurement, but its stockpiling systems are underdeveloped compared to Japan. For its part, Japan imports a significant amount of petroleum products from Southeast Asia. It aims to strengthen its supply chain for these products by supporting the efforts of other AZEC members to stockpile crude oil.

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This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Neither Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, Barron's nor The Wall Street Journal were involved in the creation of this content.

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