MANILA, Philippines?Energy ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states have approved a draft of the ASEAN Petroleum Security Agreement (APSA), which would assure the region of an oil supply in the event of a shortage.

Fresh from the 26th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) in Bangkok, Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes said approval of the draft, which would be finalized and signed in December during the ASEAN Summit, was an important step in ensuring energy security in the region.

The draft went through more than 10 years of deliberation, he said.

The agreement is for oil producers in the region (Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei) to sell their oil at ?friendship prices? to the region?s consuming nations if they face a 10-percent shortfall in their needs.

The amended agreement would replace the current agreement, which has been in place since 1986 and which stipulates a 20-percent shortage trigger.

ASEAN brings together the Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The APSA and its attachment, the Coordinated Emergency Response Measures, will provide guidelines to govern a timely and coordinated response to oil supply emergencies, Reyes said.

During the meeting, however, Reyes said Indonesia, as a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), assured the group that there was still an ample supply of crude oil in the world market.

ASEAN?s energy consumption is expected to reach 400 million tons of oil equivalent by 2020 and 782 million tons of oil equivalent by 2032?sharply up from 265 million tons in 2000.

ASEAN energy ministers also discussed the need to develop new sources of energy to feed the growing demand and said the region should become the Asian hub for biofuels.

The organization will undertake a study to make sure such developments do not come to the detriment of the food needs of the region.

Reyes suggested that a ?Green Agenda,? similar to that of the European Union, be formulated. This would not only address the issue of alternative energy, but also concerns about climate change, he said.

He proposed that a 20-percent renewable power target be set and met by 2015.

During the Bangkok meeting, Reyes also urged fellow ASEAN member nations to help ease geopolitical tensions and prevent too much speculation that could lead to more oil price spikes.

He called on the private sector to infuse more cash into energy exploration.

To jumpstart exploration and development efforts, he said energy companies in ASEAN could enter into joint ventures with each other to explore and develop untapped energy resources in the region.

It was reported that plans for an ASEAN natural gas grid have been pushed back by up to a decade due to delays in developing an Indonesian field, the biggest in the region.

Offshore East Natuna is not expected to come into production before 2016, further hindering a regional integration plan that had been progressing very slowly.

Natuna, discovered in 1973, holds hydrocarbon reserves of 46 trillion cubic feet, and could be in production for more than 30 years.

The ASEAN summit in December will be hosted by Thailand. With a Reuters report.