The ASEAN Regional Forum Seminar on the Regional Cooperation on Offshore Oil Spills began in Qingdao, Shandong province, on Thursday.

More than 70 officials and experts from 16 countries and organizations, including Australia, Japan and the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association participated to discuss the latest developments on environmental protection, supervision and responses to offshore oil spills.

The seminar will last two days, and aims to prompt regional cooperation between ASEAN countries and the member states and organizations of the forum to deal with the increasing risks of oil leaks at sea.

As such leaks cause severe damage to the marine environment globally, Liang Fengkui, director of the international cooperation department under the State Oceanic Administration, said at the opening ceremony that through the workshop, possible methods or mechanisms can be explored to make cooperation and information exchange closer and easier.

Robert Cox, technical director of IPIECA, agreed that it is time for a partnership approach to enable successful responses to oil spills.