Date : 18/06/2007
TOKYO, June 18 (KUNA) -- Japan and South Korea signed an oil sharing
agreement Monday to better cope with unexpected emergency situations resulting
from the global supply of crude oil, Seoul's media reported.
The Strategic Alliance Agreement (SAA) gives South Korea and Japan priority
access to stored oil held by the other country in case there is a shortfall in
their national reserves, the South Korean Ministry of Commerce, Industry and
Energy said, according to Yonhap News Agency. The new measures could help
stabilize global prices that could be affected if either South Korea or Japan
reported a drop in their strategic reserves.
"The move follows steady rise in oil prices this year and concerns that it
may rise further in the coming months that could disrupt economic growth of
both countries," a South Korean ministry official was quoted as saying.
As of 2005, Japan ranked second with daily imports topping 5.1 million
barrels, while South Korea was the fifth largest importer of crude oil in the
world bringing in roughly 2.3 million barrels of oil per day. The largest
importer in that year was the US.
The agreement is a follow up to the memorandum of understanding (MoU)
signed between the state-run Korea National Oil Corp. and Japan Oil, Gas,
Metals National Corporation in December 2004.
Unlike the earlier MoU, the SAA calls for annual meetings to coordinate
policies between the oil companies, exchange information on oil reserves and
share technical information, it said. The two companies will also conduct
joint research on the long-term storage of crude oil and support joint
training exercises. (end)
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