Deora to attend first major oil importers' meet

Petroleum Minister Murli Deora will represent India at the first-ever meeting of five major oil importing nations here on December 16, during which ways to stabilise crude oil prices will be discussed.

At the one-day meeting hosted by China's top planning body, the National Development Reform Commission, oil ministers from major oil importers India, the US, China, Japan and South Korea would attend and exchange views on issues of common interest, Chinese sources said.

"The meeting is being held with a view to enhance the co-operation and dialogue among major energy consumers in the world," said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang.

The topics for discussion would include ways to reduce energy consumption and raise efficiency and find more energy substituting sources and to ensure global energy security and stability, he said. "We hope that the meeting will be conducive for co-ordination and communication among major energy consumers on the energy situation," Qin said.

China is expected to be represented at the meeting by the National Development Reform Commission Chairman Ma Kai. US Energy Secretary Sam Bodman was expected to lead the US delegation, sources said.

Deora was expected to have bilateral meetings with his counterparts attending the five-nation meeting, said official sources.

China, the US, Japan, South Korea and India consume nearly 45.5 per cent of the world's 3.77 billion tonnes of oil. But hikes in the oil price are constraining their economic development.

"The five giant oil consumers are turning from competitors into co-operators," Xinhua news agency recently quoted an expert with the Foreign Investment Research Institute of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Li Xiaogang, as saying.

"If they could team up to balance the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the world's crude oil market would fluctuate less," director of the China Energy Research Institute at Xiamen University, Lin Boqiang, said.

Expert Guan Qingyou with the China Academy of Social Sciences predicted that the five countries might strike a price negotiation agreement to deal with possible price fluctuations. They might also seek to reach a consensus on crude oil transportation, Guan said.

Providing nearly one-third of the world's oil output annually, OPEC has the largest say in oil pricing. The official prices set by OPEC and the price of crude oil futures at the New York Merchandise Exchange have always been viewed as the weather vane of oil pricing.