SOME+3 EPGG

At the occasion of the 8^th International Energy Forum held in Osaka in September 2002 for promoting cooperative dialogue between energy producing and consuming countries, a meeting was held among ministerial level senior energy officials representing the ASEAN countries plus Japan, Korea, and China, or ASEAN+3 countries. As a result of the meeting, five priority areas for Asian energy cooperation have been set out, comprised of: (i) energy security network; (ii) oil stockpiling; (iii) studies on the oil market (the “Asian Premium” issue); (iv) promotion of natural gas usage; and (v) renewable energy. Subsequently, forums related to the five areas above have been formed with meaningful discussions taking place in each of them. In addition, the Energy Policy Governing Group (SOME+3 EPGG) meetings were organized to monitor the progress in respective forums and also to discuss the way forward for them.