OPEC Summit: Providing Petroleum, Promoting Prosperity, Protecting the Planet

Photo taken on Nov. 18, 2007 shows the closing ceremony of the 3rd OPEC summit meeting in Riyadh, capital of Saudi arabia. A joint statement was issued at the end of the two-day meeting, promising to provide reliable supplies of oil. (Xinhua Photo)

21 November

A Kingdom Rich in Opportunity – November 21, 2007
By Stephen S. Poloz,  Senior Vice-President, Corporate Affairs and Chief Economist, Export Development Canada
A visit to Boomtown, Saudi Arabia incites awe, while at the same time helping to dispel certain fears. Although the place is not without problems, opportunities abound.
As owner of some 25% of the world’s known oil reserves, Saudi Arabia has lately redefined what it means to strike it rich. Oil revenues are approaching $1 billion per day, and the money is fuelling a building and diversification boom without precedent.
Diversification efforts are aimed at real opportunities, not theoretical ones.
More on www.wednesday-night.com 

18 November 2007
OPEC declaration stresses market stability, clean energy – Summary
Riyadh – Leaders of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC declared at the closing of their Riyadh summit Sunday their commitment to stability in global energy supplies, competitive prices and oil investment boost. The Riyadh Declaration, which was read by the organization’s secretary-general, Abdallah al-Badri, stressed the mutual importance of secure demand and supply. More

OPEC Issues Riyadh Declaration as OPEC 3 Summit Ends
By Andrew K. Burger
18 Nov 2007
RIYADH — The Third OPEC Summit came to a close Sunday with the issue of the Riyadh Declaration, a statement of governing principles that by the end of deliberations by oil and energy ministers, finance ministers and heads of state conformed to the three themes announced in advance of the gathering—oil supply stabilization and security, energy for sustainable development and environmental protection.
No mention was made in the final public communiqué presented by Abdullah Salem Al-Badri, OPEC’s secretary general at the King Abdul-aziz International Center, of shifting pricing of OPEC’s oil trade from the US dollar to a currency basket. Al Badri stated at the closing press conference given at the Marriott Hotel that while it was OPEC’s obligation to its members to maximize returns on their resource bases, the matter was best left for respective members’ finance ministers to study. More

Opec pledges ‘adequate’ oil supply
Opec members have said they will provide “adequate, timely and sufficient” oil supplies to the market while Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, pledged that his country would never use oil “as a weapon”. More

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has suggested an end to the trading of oil in US dollars, calling the currency “a worthless piece of paper”.
The call came at the end of a rare Opec summit, and was opposed by US ally Saudi Arabia.
The Iranian president had wanted to include the attack on the dollar in the summit’s closing statement.
The communique made little mention of the dollar, however, focusing instead on energy security and the environment. More on BBC

Meanwhile that other great friend of the U.S. , Hugo Chavez had his say:
Venezuela’s president has warned that oil prices could more than double if the US attacks his country or Iran. In his opening address on Saturday at a rare Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries summit in Riyadh, the Saudi Arabian capital, he declared that the group should “assert itself as an active political agent”. Excellent Al Jazeera piece on the Summit

17 November 2007
OPEC’s leaders began a rare summit in Riyadh on Saturday with a warning that record crude oil prices could double if the United States were to invade two OPEC members, Iran or Venezuela. The warning came from Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chavez. He urged OPEC leaders to band together to defend themselves against aggressors. But Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah gave an opposing view, saying that oil should not become an instrument for conflict. OPEC’s inner dealings were mistakenly broadcast to journalists on Friday. At a private meeting, OPEC ministers from Iran and Saudi Arabia disagreed about the weakening U.S. dollar. OPEC sells its exports in U.S. dollars, and the falling currency has affected revenues. (RCI)

OPEC’s split-personality, long dormant, seems to have returned over the weekend.
Held amid the pomp and glitter of the Saudi royal court, a summit meeting of OPEC’s heads of state revealed competing visions for the oil-producing group.
Saudi Arabia was walking a thorny line by hosting leaders from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries like President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and President Mahmood Ahmadinejad of Iran as oil prices hovered close to $100 a barrel. The rare meeting, which has been planned since December, happened at a time of renewed concerns over the record level of oil prices and the falling value of the dollar.
While the Saudis wanted to reassure the world that OPEC is a reliable oil supplier, the leaders of Venezuela and Iran, who have traditionally been more hawkish members of the oil cartel, sought to score political points, saying prices were not too high and criticizing the decline of the dollar. More

Environment and Sustainable Development Take Centre Stage at OPEC Summit
By Andrew K. Burger
15 Nov 2007
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Oil price stabilization and fundamental supply-demand conditions, both in the short- and longer terms, were a secondary theme that ran through the first day of panel discussions from the Ministerial Symposium at the third OPEC Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The rising prominence of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change was on the forefront, and reflected in the Summit slogan, “Providing Petroleum, Promoting Prosperity, Protecting the Planet.”
Presentations were given to OPEC member nation energy ministers and discussed by panels of oil and gas industry participants that included current national energy ministers, former OPEC chairmen and invited energy industry experts that included Cambridge Energy Associates’ Daniel Yergin, John Vernon Mitchell, acting head and associate fellow at the Chatham House Energy, Environment and Development Program and Oxford Institute of Energy Studies’ Robert Emile Mabro.
Oil, Climate Change & CCS
UNFCCC executive chairman Yvo de Boer … welcomed OPEC’s invitation to take part in the Summit and praised the organization’s participation past and present in U.N. and international dialogues and programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change.
Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) appears to be a focal point of OPEC’s plans in this regard. Reference during one panel discussion by former OPEC chairman Dr. Adnan Shihab-Eldin to the possibility that OPEC might initiate efforts to establish an international, multi-billion dollar CCS research and development program that would bring producers, consumers, developed and developing countries together led to speculation that a more formal and specific announcement may be forthcoming before the Summit ends on Sunday.
OPEC secretary general Abdullah bin Salem Al-Badri yesterday evening stated that the organization was prepared to help member nations reduce carbon dioxide emissions and mitigate climate change by providing access to technology. Saudi Arabia’s Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz later told the press that there would be “a few surprises” disclosed during the conference in this regard. He said that the Kingdom had taken steps to acquire CCS technology and added that a clean energy research institute would be established at the King Abdullah University for Science & Technology. More

Saudi Arabia Oilfield complex in Shaybah. (EPA/JAMAL NASRALLAH)

16 November
Associated Press
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia: Leaders of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting this weekend in the Saudi capital are likely to discuss the possibility of creating a currency basket to price their crude, Venezuela’s oil minister said Friday.
Rafael Ramirez, the minister, said the issue will come up at a closed session in the two-day OPEC summit, Dow Jones Newswires reported. More