Major oil producers of North and Central Asia Friday shared concerns of major energy consumers of the Asian region for networking and joint development of resources at the second energy roundtable hosted here by India.

"We are today not establishing but re-establishing our long-standing relations in oil and gas with our central Asian neighbours. The networking of the knowledge base of Asia in the common interest of Asian producers and Asian consumers is a high priority," Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said in his opening statement.

Major Asian oil producing and consuming countries like Azerbaijan, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Japan and Turkey - as the main oil transit route to Europe - are participating.

Taking forward the proposal of an Asian oil and gas grid raised at the first roundtable in January with West and Southeast Asian countries, Aiyar said, "We would like to initiate a detailed, scientific study of the possibility and feasibility of devising an Asian oil and gas grid. We hope to have the collaboration of experts from all participating countries in undertaking this study."

The minister said while India would be prepared to fund the study on its own, contributions from the other Asian countries would be welcome. The results of the study, Aiyar said could be circulated through the International Energy Forum to fellow Asian countries.

The Indian minister also expressed hope of soon seeing the proposed natural gas pipeline from Iran to Pakistan and India materialise. This pipeline, he said, could be linked to the western borders of India, and from Myanmar another pipeline could link through Bangladesh to the eastern boarders of India.

Representatives of the other major consumer countries including Japan, China and South Korea shared India's stand on the need for more interdependence through joint investments to boost availability of resources and desirability of stable prices.

They underlined that not only is Asia the largest producer but also the consumer of oil and gas produced within the region.

The co-chairman of the roundtable and Russian Minister for Industry and Energy, V. Kristenko, stressed the need for linking regional energy security to the global agenda of the G-8 Group.

Urging a balancing of energy resources including LNG (liquefied natural gas) and pipelines, Kristenko said, "Harmonisation of energy policies of G-8 Group and the leading industrially developing countries is important for energy security."

Chinese Ambassador Sun Yuxi urged the oil producing and consuming countries to join hands to jointly tackle the energy challenge to economic development.

"The dramatic rise of oil price in the international market will, on the one hand, increase the production cost of consuming countries, slow down the economic growth in those countries and consequently impose negative impact on the world economy and economic growth of the oil producing countries," he said.

Sharing the views of the major consumer countries, South Korean Minister of Commerce and Industry Hee Beom Lee said, "There must be cross border investments to strengthen the bonds."

Turkey Minister of Energy and Industry Hilmi Guler urged more economic linkages between the oil and gas producer and consumer countries to boost cooperation and interdependence.

Turkey is being seen as a major link in the chain for accessing oil from the Central Asian countries not only by European countries but also for delivery to the South Asian region.