Quad Fuel Security Forum to hold first meeting in Texas amid energy security concerns
The first meeting of the Quad Fuel Security Forum will be held in Texas on the sidelines of the G20 Energy Ministerial, which is being attended by Power Minister Manohar Lal.
The forum was announced in May in New Delhi following the Quad Foreign Ministers Meeting hosted by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. It was launched as an effort to protect the grouping from potential energy supply shocks in the future.
“This week in Texas, we’re having the Quad Fuel Security Forum, which is part of this commitment; it’s a demonstration of our commitment to ensuring that the entire region has fuel security going forward,” James P Danly, Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Energy, said on Monday.
“This is a subject that is top of mind across the world. And for allies in Australia and India and Japan, we want to ensure that the volatility of the market and supply disruptions don’t impede their economic development or the prosperity and happiness of the people,” Danly said.
The three-day G20 Energy Abundance Ministerial began in Houston on Monday.
India and Japan, two of the four Quad members, depend significantly on West Asia for their crude oil supplies. Any disruption in supplies therefore has a disproportionate impact on countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Quad Fuel Security Forum is aimed at facilitating high-level discussions and strengthening cooperation by drawing on the individual capabilities and resources of the four countries' energy sectors. This includes efforts to strengthen strategic petroleum reserves.
In a statement issued in May, the Quad countries said their leaders had made a joint commitment to improving energy resilience and maintaining stable and transparent energy markets. (with inputs from PTI)
