(Reuters, Sept 19, 2006) - China will host a summit of top U.S. and Asian energy officials next month, government officials said on Tuesday, as Beijing seeks a greater say in coordinatingglobal consumer-nation policy to help rein in oil prices.

Government officials from China, India, Japan, South Korea and the United States will attend the October 23-26 meeting in Beijing, a rare high-level gathering in a country that until now has played a smaller part in international energy affairs.

"The purpose of the meeting is to discuss ways to stabilize the energy price among high energy consuming countries," said Toh Kyung-hwan, policy director at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy in Seoul.

Indian Oil Minister Murli Deora is due to attend, an Indian government source said on Tuesday, although Japan and South Korea have yet to determine who will be present, officials from those nations said. U.S. officials were not immediately available to say whether Energy Secretary Sam Bodman would attend.

China's energy policy is set by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), which is headed by Ma Kai.

In terms of global energy relations, China has tended to take a back seat to neighbors such as India -- a vocal advocate of closer ties between Asian consumers and Middle East producers -- and Japan, which promotes regional emergency oil reserves.

But as its double-digit economic growth forces it to import more resources from abroad, Beijing has encouraged its state-owned companies to take a more active role on global markets, including benchmark Oman crude and iron ore.

Domestically, the government has taken steps to curb oil demand and promote conservation, although critics say its unwillingness to raise domestic energy prices in line with global markets hinders this drive toward greater efficiency.

Beijing may also be strengthening ties in an effort to avoid getting blamed for high oil prices as it did in 2004, when an unexpected 15 percent surge in demand catapulted oil prices above $50 a barrel. Expectations that China will continue to expand rapidly have been a major factor behind oil's four-year rally.

SEOUL (Reuters) - China will host a summit of top U.S. and Asian energy officials next month, government officials said on Tuesday, as Beijing seeks a greater say in coordinatingglobal consumer-nation policy to help rein in oil prices.

Government officials from China, India, Japan, South Korea and the United States will attend the October 23-26 meeting in Beijing, a rare high-level gathering in a country that until now has played a smaller part in international energy affairs.

"The purpose of the meeting is to discuss ways to stabilize the energy price among high energy consuming countries," said Toh Kyung-hwan, policy director at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy in Seoul.

Indian Oil Minister Murli Deora is due to attend, an Indian government source said on Tuesday, although Japan and South Korea have yet to determine who will be present, officials from those nations said. U.S. officials were not immediately available to say whether Energy Secretary Sam Bodman would attend.

China's energy policy is set by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), which is headed by Ma Kai.

In terms of global energy relations, China has tended to take a back seat to neighbors such as India -- a vocal advocate of closer ties between Asian consumers and Middle East producers -- and Japan, which promotes regional emergency oil reserves.

But as its double-digit economic growth forces it to import more resources from abroad, Beijing has encouraged its state-owned companies to take a more active role on global markets, including benchmark Oman crude and iron ore.

Domestically, the government has taken steps to curb oil demand and promote conservation, although critics say its unwillingness to raise domestic energy prices in line with global markets hinders this drive toward greater efficiency.

Beijing may also be strengthening ties in an effort to avoid getting blamed for high oil prices as it did in 2004, when an unexpected 15 percent surge in demand catapulted oil prices above $50 a barrel. Expectations that China will continue to expand rapidly have been a major factor behind oil's four-year rally.

The consuming nations are united in their concern that sustained high energy prices will harm their economies, but the Asian states may differ on ways to resolve the issue and face intensifying competition among each other for resources abroad.

Relations between China and Japan have grown icy over a range of disputes including a natural gas field that Tokyo says may extend into its territory, while all four countries are competing ferociously to secure overseas oil and gas reserves, despite frequent discussion of closer co-ordination.

(Additional reporting by Ikuko Kao in Tokyo, Chen Aizhu and Emma Graham-Harrison in Beijing and Nidhi Verma in New Delhi)

Source:Reuters
tag:China energy