Thaindian News

Brussels, June 18 (IANS) India supports global initiatives that strengthen mutual energy security by promoting “an open, competitive and globally integrated market”, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Jitin Prasada said here at a conference Thursday.
The global energy market is far from perfect and has in recent years been hugely susceptible to non-market considerations, he said at the first Conference on Energy Security of Foreign and Energy Ministers of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) forum.

“No one can forget the roller-coaster ride of last year which took the prices to a skyrocketing high of $147 per barrel. Such high prices were clearly unsustainable,” he told the participants from 45 Asian and European countries.

“The recent trend of rising oil prices is again threatening a renewed volatility, which is neither in the interest of producing nor of consuming countries,” he added.

“It is through such interactions that countries will be encouraged to develop a cooperative framework through greater dialogue and openness in the global energy market,” said Prasada.

“We, in India, support global initiatives that strengthen mutual energy security by promoting a truly open, competitive and globally integrated energy market and ensure the long-term interest of both the producers and consumers,” he said.

The one-day event was opened by European Union (EU) Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner, EuAsiaNews reported.

She proposed four areas for working together - information sharing, cooperation on developing new technologies, promoting green energy and boosting investment in the renewable energy sector.

EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said the European Commission, executive body of the EU, has already started partnerships with India, China, Japan and other countries in the energy sector, and explained that energy security lies at the centre of this dialogue.