Cebu: Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) today adopted an emergency plan aimed at mitigating the impact of the war in the Middle East on their populations and economies, while acknowledging that implementing complex measures such as establishing a regional fuel reserve to ensure stable supplies would be difficult.

According to Qatar News Agency, during the opening of the annual ASEAN leaders' summit in Cebu, President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos Jr. emphasized that the highly volatile situation in the Middle East would affect the Asian region. He highlighted the necessity for flexibility in confronting uncertainties that threaten livelihoods, living standards, and lives.

Marcos noted that ASEAN's emergency plan includes measures such as ratifying an agreement for coordinated fuel-sharing during emergencies, planning for a regional electricity grid and a shared fuel reserve, diversifying crude oil sources, encouraging the use of electric vehicles, and exploring new technologies like nuclear energy for civilian purposes.

He stressed that while emergency measures would be implemented immediately, establishing a regional fuel reserve and a unified power grid would be complex and time-consuming. Marcos raised questions about whether the fuel reserve would be centralized or distributed across ASEAN countries.

He also mentioned that the concept of a regional electricity network for power exchange had been discussed for years but only implemented on a limited scale. He assured that the project remains a priority for ASEAN leaders.

The 11 ASEAN member states heavily depend on oil imports from the Middle East, with over 55% of the region's crude oil imports originating from there. This dependency makes them vulnerable to supply disruptions, especially with the continued impact of the Strait of Hormuz's closure on energy security in Southeast Asia.