TOKYO, 16 November 2004 — The world needs to be more active in finding energy alternatives including nuclear power to reduce its unsustainable reliance on oil, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said yesterday.
Claude Mandil, meeting with senior Japanese officials including Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura, stressed the need to stabilize oil prices and to reduce emissions of greenhouse gas. In a speech after his meetings, Mandil said dependence on oil was dangerous as supply could easily be disrupted in violence-hit areas. He urged governments to consider an expansion of nuclear energy plants. “We think urgent and decisive government actions are needed,” he said.
IEA analyst Fatih Briol said unless governments of the world changed their energy policies, rising oil demand in developing nations, particularly those in Asia, would result in more emission of carbon dioxide. Briol urged governments to tighten monitoring of energy efficiency standards for cars, power generation and supply systems, household electronics and industrial equipment. “We have to put efficiency policies at first,” Briol said.
Meanwhile, the IEA expects China to start establishing strategic oil stocks in 2005 as part of the country’s long-term energy policy to provide a stable supply of petroleum to the domestic market in the event of serious disruptions. “My understanding is China was using the year 2004 to actually build the tanks, and it is prepared to fill them progressively starting the year 2005,” Mandil told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview yesterday.
Mandil emphasized China, not a member of the IEA, has agreed to cooperate with the agency in case of having to use these strategic reserves. Japan and South Korea, two Asian members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, already have strategic oil reserves, and Mandil said non-OECD Asian countries, particularly China and India, need them as well. The OECD has recommended that its members hold reserves equal to at least 90 days of net imports.
He said the IEA has held a series of talks with the Chinese government on strategic oil stockpiling as well as other energy issues, including China’s efforts to liberalize its electric power industry.
