Progress made on SEA gas pipeline

Southeast Asian government have agreed to hasten planning of a natural gas pipeline spanning the region and expect to sign a memorandum of understanding n the project next year, officials said.

Energy ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations group discussed the massive infrastructure project at annual talks held Thursday in Brunei.

Ministers agreed to direct senior officials to expedite negotiations on a draft agreement on the pipeline and have it ready for ministers to sign at their next meeting in Bali, Indonesia, said Awang Abdul Rahman, Brunei?s minister of Industry and Primary Resources who hosted the meeting.

Over the next couple of decades, state-owned oil companies of ASEAN countries plant to link together thousands of kilometers of pipe ? both underwater and on land to ensure a constant supply of natural gas for the region.

Critics say plan is too ambitious and that internal unrest in Indonesia ? the region?s biggest economy and largest natural gas producer ? and disputes between other ASEAN countries will scuttle the plant.

Under the ASEAN Plan of Action on Energy Cooperation, Southeast Asian countries are seeking agreement on the gas pipeline, a region-wide electricity grid and other issues including the energy efficiency and the environment. (*)