- We, the Energy Ministers of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), convened a Special ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) on 27 April 2026 via virtual platform to discuss the latest developments in the Middle East and their implications for regional and global energy security. The Meeting was chaired by H.E. Sharon S. Garin, Secretary of the Department of Energy of the Republic of the Philippines and attended by Energy Ministers and representatives from all ASEAN Member States, with the support of the ASEAN Secretariat, the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) and ASEAN Council on Petroleum and Energy (ASCOPE). The Meeting underscored the urgency of coordinated regional action considering evolving geopolitical developments that affect energy markets and supply chains, particularly oil and gas supply, and reaffirmed ASEAN’s collective responsibility to safeguard regional energy security through strengthened cooperation, including with Dialogue Partners through ASEAN-led mechanism, and timely policy responses.
- We took note of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Statements and the ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Statement on the Situation in the Middle East, and reaffirmed ASEAN’s commitment to maintaining peace, stability, prosperity, and the uninterrupted flow of energy supplies, particularly oil and gas, which remain critical to global economic stability and regional prosperity. We emphasised that disruptions in key energy transit routes could have far-reaching implications on global oil supply chains, especially for ASEAN as a net energy-importing region and underscored the importance of maintaining secure and open sea lanes, ensuring freedom of navigation, the safe, unimpeded and continuous transit passage of vessels and aircraft in straits used for international navigation, and minimising disruptions to energy trade flows in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
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