The Ministry of International Trade and Industry plans to offer knowhow to other Asian countries on stockpiling oil, ministry officials said Monday.

The ministry hopes that by boosting oil stockpiles in Asia, Japan will be less vulnerable to any crisis affecting its ability to procure such resources elsewhere, the officials said.

Japan leads other Asian countries in its system of stockpiling oil, and MITI is considering offering technology on building and operating oil tanks and underground oil storage facilities.

The ministry is also considering calling for the standardization of data on oil supply in the Asian region to make it easier to gauge the size of each country's stockpile.

Consumption of crude oil is growing again in Asia in line with the economic pickup in the region, and prices are showing signs of rise.

Experts point to worries of possible economic turmoil in Asia if any political instability in the oil-producing Middle East countries leads to a drastic shortage in supply.

The central government began stockpiling crude oil in 1978 through the semigovernmental Japan National Oil Corp., while it called on the private sector to do so starting in 1972.

Government stockpiles are stored at 10 locations nationwide. Japan's total stockpile at government and private facilities amounts to roughly 91 million kiloliters in finished oil products -- about 163 days' worth. However, MITI officials are looking to increase this amount.

MITI has started sounding out Asian countries -- mainly members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The ministry will start drawing up plans in the future tailored to give appropriate aid to each country.