By Xinhua,
Kuala Lumpur : The issues in the world’s hotspots, like the Middle East, should be tackled in earnest to ensure the world energy security, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said here on Monday.
To ease uncertainty and fear of interruption of oil supply, earnest efforts should be made to tackle long-standing issues which lie at the heart of the world geopolitics now, Badawi said at the opening ceremony of the 13 Annual Asia Oil and Gas Conference.
“We cannot continue to allow unilateral power plays and the pursuit of narrow interests to overwhelm the need for peace and security,” he told the two-day event organized by Malaysia’s state-run oil company Petronas.
“Only when we work in earnest towards peace in such troubled regions, can we truly make headway towards ensuring genuine energy security in the years to come,” he said.
Facing the rising oil prices, many countries turned to search for biofuels as one of the long-term alternatives to petroleum, throwing large quantities of crops and grains, like maize and sugarcane, into this drive, he said.
“The zeal for energy security has come into direct confrontation with the basic need of food production,” he said.
Energy security is an issue that must be tackled and with great urgency, but it should not impose adverse effects on food security and other aspects of modern life, he added.