The Saudi capital - Riyadh, will host the Second Asian Ministerial Energy Roundtable Meeting for oil producers and consumers in Asia in May this year. This meeting will be attended by Energy ministers of China, India, Japan, Iran, Iraq, South Korea, the Sultanate of Oman, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan, Indonesia, Philippines, Sultanate of Brunei and representatives of the Organization of Petroleum and Exporting Countries (OPEC) and The International Energy Agency (IEA). The one day roundtable meeting will include two working sessions. The first session will discuss issues related to energy in Asia; the prospects of oil and gas trade in eastern and western parts of the Continent, and fluctuations and alternative scenarios. The second session will focus on energy and economic inter-dependence among East and West Asian counties; issues of investment in exploration; producing, refining and marketing sectors and the role of NOCs and IOCs; issues of energy security from global and Asian prospective and the role of strategic reserves; excess energy; transparency and efficiency of energy consumption; handling and diversification in achieving this. The session topic will also include integrations in Asia and how East Asian investments enhance economic diversification in Western Asia and the role of the West Asian investments in enhancing economic diversification in Western Asia and the role of West Asian investments in maintaining energy security of East Asian countries, in addition to the discussion of future cooperation opportunities in energy technology, information exchange and research centers in energy producing and consuming countries in Asia. --MORE
