Jakarta. ASEAN has officially begun its string of Cebu meetings to find ways to counter the Iran war energy crunch, as Southeast Asian nations eye the possibility of sharing fuel.

The group’s economic ministers held their discussions on Thursday, a meeting not open to media coverage or broadcast, except for the opening part.

Philippine Trade Secretary Cristina Roque told the forum that the members would pick up on where they had left off in responding to the “rapidly evolving developments” in the Middle East that had caused sharp hikes in oil prices.

“Our people will not see the discussions, but they will feel the results in stable prices, functioning supply chains, and continued opportunities,” Roque said.

Roque had recently told the press that the group was looking to ratify the so-called ASEAN Petroleum Security Agreement (APSA). She said: “APSA is being pursued to enable coordinated emergency fuel-sharing and collective responses to supply disruption”.

But how a country chips in some fuel for joint stockpiling will hinge on its domestic procedures, according to Roque. 

The Philippines, which holds this year’s ASEAN chairmanship, was the first country to declare an energy emergency following the Iran war. Manila had sourced virtually all its oil from the Middle East, and fuel to this day could not sail to Southeast Asia amid the Strait of Hormuz closure. 

The progress on the fuel-sharing talks is expected to be available in an upcoming joint statement. 

Indonesia’s chief economic minister Airlangga Hartarto had confirmed to reporters that ASEAN was eyeing a “strategic petroleum reserves”, without going into more details. A press release issued during the Cebu talks wrote that Jakarta had backed APSA to “beef up energy security”.

Senior economist Yose Rizal Damuri told the Jakarta Globe that ASEAN should invite other nations into the mix, similar to how China, Japan, and South Korea joined their rice reserves program. 

“The idea is feasible, but ASEAN nations tend to avoid making their contributions. It’d be more effective if it involved other partners, … so it will motivate the ASEAN nations to do their part,” Yose said.

Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz -- the passageway for a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil trade -- was what had ignited the global energy shocks. Tehran decided to take advantage of its stranglehold on the waterway in response to US-Israeli airstrikes on February 28. The international crude benchmark Brent has repeatedly crossed the $100-per-barrel barrier, now stabilizing above $101 as of writing.

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