Australian Prime Minister John Howard met with heads of the country's major oil companies on Wednesday to discuss the use of biofuels in Austrailan vehicles.

The government wants the industry to produce 350 megalitres of biofuel a year by 2010 to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels and save consumers money.

At the meeting held in Sydney, Australia's biggest city, oil industry executives agreed to keep pursuing the target, while developing industry action plans to foster the fledgling industry, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio reported.

Howard said the industry action plans may include production targets for each company, adding it is important to promote confidence in the most prominent biofuel, ethanol.

However, Howard said biofuels are only part of the solution to high petrol prices.

"We've never represented this as being some kind of comprehensive answer to dearer petrol,"he was quoted as saying.

"It can make some contribution over time, but it should not be seen as some magical answer," he said.

Source: Xinhua