ASEAN energy chiefs meet on fuel security as Iran war widens
ASEAN energy ministers are meeting in Manila to address fuel security concerns caused by the ongoing US-Israel conflict with Iran. The region is highly dependent on Middle Eastern oil, and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have significantly increased energy costs.
Why it matters
The meeting underscores the vulnerability of global energy supply chains to geopolitical instability in the Middle East.
MANILA: Southeast Asia’s energy ministers gathered in Manila on Wednesday for energy security talks, seeking to lessen the region’s dependence on supply chains upended by the fallout of the US-Israel war with Iran.
Since February, US-Israeli attacks on Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes on American allies in the Gulf region have repeatedly disrupted maritime access, shipping security, and the cost of moving energy through the Strait of Hormuz.
The strait is the single most consequential chokepoint for the energy system of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, one of the world’s fastest-growing economic blocs, which imports over 55 percent of the crude for its refineries from the Middle East.
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