Opec leaders to discuss prices, environment
Posted: 16 October 2007
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Leaders of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) will discuss soaring oil prices along with the environment and other issues when they hold their third summit in Riyadh in mid-November.
The 12-nation Cartel will also debate such issues when its oil ministers gather in Abu Dhabi in early December for their 146th extraordinary meeting.
“The Opec summit in Riyadh will discuss environment matters, crude oil supply, prices and other issues,” Saudi oil minister Ali Al Nuaimi said.
He said the November 17-18 conference would be Opec’s third summit since it was created in 1960. The first summit was held in Algiers in 1975 while Venezuela hosted the second summit in 2000.
“ Saudi Arabia is hosting this summit out of its keenness to maintain stability in the world oil market and ensure crude supplies to all consumers,” Nuaimi said.
The summit and the December 5 meeting in Abu Dhabi follow an increase in oil prices to historically high levels of more than $80 a barrel. Opec ministers have repeatedly denied the surge in prices was due to oil supply shortages in response to persistent calls from the US and other key consumers on the organisation to boost production.
“More crude supply from OPEC would do little to ease $80 oil as speculative investment flowing into the market from other assets is boosting the price,” Qatari minister of energy and industry Abdullah Al-Attyah was quoted as saying last month.
“I am confident that the price is not related to supply…We increased at the last OPEC meeting and were confident that it would help the market, but unfortunately the market is moving in a different direction. More oil won't help at all.”
The price of Opec’s basket of 12 crudes averaged $68.7 in August and exceeded $74 a barrel in September, according to the Cartel.
It forecast the average price to soar to an all time high of $63.6 in 2007 to smash the previous record average of $61.08 in 2006. This means the group’s oil export earnings are projected to hit another record this year in current prices after they surged to their highest level of $630 billion in 2006.
The new Opec Reference Basket (ORB), implemented as of September 10, is currently made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Minas (Indonesia), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export ( Kuwait ), Es Sider ( Libya ), Bonny Light ( Nigeria ), Qatar Marine ( Qatar ), Arab Light ( Saudi Arabia ), Murban (UAE) and BCF 17 ( Venezuela ). |
