Saudi Arabia and UAE to cooperate with Asia on oil stockpiling, Japan supports

Saudi Arabia and the UAE plan to cooperate with Asian countries on oil stockpiling, with Japan offering financial and technical support. The initiative will be discussed at an AZEC ministerial meeting in the Philippines on Thursday, with details to be finalised bilaterally.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are set to announce their intention to cooperate with Asian countries on oil stockpiling, according to a report by the Nikkei business daily on Monday. The Japan-led Asia Zero-Emission Community (AZEC), a grouping of 11 countries including Southeast Asian nations, will hold a ministerial meeting in the Philippines on Thursday, where senior officials from Saudi Arabia and the UAE are expected to make the announcement.

The framework is expected to be included in a joint statement from the meeting, providing a basis for member countries to discuss expanding oil reserves with Middle Eastern producers, Nikkei said. Specific details and the scale of cooperation will be worked out through bilateral discussions, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE possibly expanding exports to participating countries or providing priority supplies in an emergency, it added.

Japan is supporting the initiative through financial assistance and stockpiling expertise, the report said. Japan already leases domestic private storage tanks to state-owned oil companies in countries such as Saudi Arabia under a joint stockpiling scheme, which Japanese companies can access in an emergency.

Japan is expected to share the framework at a ministerial dialogue of the International Energy Forum in Saudi Arabia on October 11, the report said. A Japanese industry ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed there will be dialogue between Saudi Arabia and the UAE and oil-consuming countries in Asia on the sidelines of the AZEC ministerial meeting, although no concrete projects will be discussed.