The report also calls for the growing need to create a regional version of the International Energy Agency.

The report, which was submitted to the Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy, an advisory panel to the trade minister, outlines recommendations for strategies to provide secure energy in the region up to 2030.

In a statement, the ministry stated, “Asian countries lack an international framework for emergency energy supplies at the regional level [and] the need for a cooperative Asian framework is becoming particularly acute, due to rapidly growing demand in Asia, led by China.”

The ministry also revealed many Asian governments are now keen for the “establishment of emergency energy supplies”.

The report calls for a two-step process which could be used to introduce the framework, should the Asian governments choose to adopt it.

“The first step would be for Asian nations to individually build or reinforce their emergency oil reserves. The second step would be for the nations to form the emergency supply network,” stated the report.

Other proposals mooted by the report calls for the promotion of oil futures markets, integration with European and US markets and lifting of barriers which limit the sale of energy sources to other nations once the energy has been purchased.