Press Release

THIRD OPEC SUMMIT URGES GREATER EFFORTS TOWARD POVERTY ERADICATION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Riyadh Declaration issued
Al-Herbish welcomes support to OFID

32/2007 November 21, 2007 Vienna, Austria
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The Third OPEC Summit of Sovereigns and Heads of State and Government (November 17-18, in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) brought together the entire leadership of Member Countries, along with ranking representatives. The leaders and heads of delegations in attendance were President Abdulaziz Bouteflika of Algeria; President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos of Angola; President Rafael Correa Delgado of Ecuador; Vice-President Muhammad Yusuf Kalla of Indonesia; President Jalal Talabani of Iraq; President Mahmud Ahmadi-Nejad of IR Iran; Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait; Dr. Shukri Ghanem, Chairman, National Oil Corporation of the SP Libyan Arab Jamahiriya; President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua of Nigeria; Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani of Qatar; HM King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques; President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates; and President Hugo Chávez Frías of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

The assembled leaders acknowledged the interrelationships between energy and sustainable development, environmental protection and preservation as well as accelerated economic growth. “We recognize,” they said, “that energy is essential for poverty eradication, sustainable development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Johannesburg Plan of Action.” They emphasized that poverty eradication should be the first and overriding global priority, guiding local, regional and international efforts. Accordingly, the leaders resolved to continue Member Countries’ response to global environmental challenges and support international efforts to address these issues in the most cost-effective manner.

Riyadh Declaration

The Summit drew to a close with a Declaration pledging continued provision of adequate, timely, efficient, economic and reliable petroleum supplies to the world. OPEC would work further with all parties to achieve balanced energy markets as well as stable and competitive petroleum prices. The Declaration urged the global community to jointly find ways and means to enhance the efficiency of the markets with the aim of reducing short term price volatility that is harmful to producers and consumers. OPEC would continue working with the rest of the world “toward the advancement of the interdependent and mutually supportive pillars of sustainable development, namely economic development, social progress and environmental protection.” The Member Countries of OPEC, while joining the international community in the efforts to achieve the MDGs, would continue to take the interests of fellow developing countries into full account in OPEC petroleum, production and investment decisions, as well as in their development assistance programs.

Furthermore, the Declaration reaffirmed OPEC’s continued commitment to development cooperation through the OPEC Fund for International Development and Member Countries’ bilateral, regional and other multilateral development assistance channels. These would progressively be aligned, with the objective of achieving sustainable development and the eradication of poverty in the developing countries. They would study ways and means of enhancing their endeavours, “in association with the energy industry and other financial institutions.” Also, the Heads of State requested their Petroleum/Energy and Finance Ministers to examine fresh avenues of enhancing financial cooperation among OPEC Member Countries, including proposals by some of the Heads of State in their statements to the Summit.

The Riyadh Declaration asks consuming governments to adopt transparent, non-discriminatory and predictable trade, fiscal, environmental and energy policies and to promote free access to markets and financial resources. It reaffirms the core principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” as well as respective capabilities, in addressing climate change policies and measures, including the implementation of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol.

Opening Session

The Summit was opened by President Chávez with a keynote address. Mr Chávez, who was host of the Caracas Summit, primarily focussed on global international relations, speaking of justice, fairness, transparency and equity. He said the only route to peace was through justice. He recalled the origins of OPEC as a group of likeminded nations and as an economic and donor body. He recounted OPEC’s struggle for survival “in the face of pressures from adversaries.” President Chávez chronicled OPEC’s progressive development, placing the annals of the Organization into three phases: the 1970s; 1980s and 1990s. The Second OPEC Summit in Caracas, he asserted, witnessed “the rebirth of OPEC.” Today, said Mr. Chávez, OPEC stood strong; “stronger than it has ever been.” He outlined the principles that had made OPEC strong, and declared that, in the years ahead, the Organization would be more active and would “demand greater respect from the stronger nations of the world.” The sovereignty of our peoples, declared the President, must be respected. “I implore you,” he said to his fellow leaders, “OPEC must stand firm in the vanguard of the fight against poverty in the developing world. We must take the lead in designing a new economic order that would be kinder and gentler to the poor.” He pledged that OPEC would work to help reduce global warming, while remaining a major player in world economic and political affairs.

President Chávez welcomed Angola to OPEC membership. In handing the torch to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, President Chávez projected that under the leadership of the King, OPEC would “navigate the waters of progress and make an impact in the development of a fairer and more balanced world.”

In his own statement to the Summit, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques reminded the capacity conference hall (the King Abdulaziz International Centre for Conferences) that OPEC had spared no effort, over the years, in preserving the interests of its members and working to ensure adequate service to consuming countries. He said Member States had made great sacrifices even to their own detriment. Those who describe OPEC as speculative and exploitative, he suggested, neglect the fact that, all along, OPEC has been moderate and cooperative. The King said the Organization achieved its objectives through the precise predicting mechanism of the level of consumption in the medium and long terms. He also deplored attempts to impose heavy taxation on petroleum and petroleum products: “Those who repeatedly claim that OPEC is a monopoly and an exploitative organization ignore the fact that it has always acted on grounds of moderation and wisdom.”

HM King Abdullah went on to recall the establishment of the OPEC Fund for International Development, following the First Summit of Sovereigns and Heads of State of OPEC in Algiers, Algeria, in March, 1975. He recalled that OFID was established, 1976, to assist other (non-OPEC) developing countries, even though the OPEC countries were, themselves, also developing countries.

On the issue of the Environment, climate change and global warming, the King announced an endowment by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to support a program of research on climate change. Said the Custodian:

"I call for the study of petroleum in relation to the environment and climate change and as such, I am pleased to announce that the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has allocated US$300 million as a nucleus for a program that funds scholarly research relating to energy, the environment and climate change. I do hope that consuming and producing countries will contribute to similar programs in order to reach accurate conclusions that ensure the safety of the environment and satisfy the escalating needs for petroleum."

OPEC Secretary-General, HE Mr. Abdalla Salem El-Badri, also addressed the Summit Opening Session. He said OPEC “has been a success story since its founding 47 years ago.” The Organization had not wavered in its objectives, including the provision of adequate supplies of oil to the world, “which the Organization has done in a professional manner.” Mr. El-Badri spoke of challenges: “We are confident that, as we successfully met the challenges of the past, so shall we turn future challenges into opportunities.” While OPEC plays its part in meeting the task of energy supplies, said the Secretary-General, others should play their part. There was, he said, a need for similar transparency in the energy policies of major consuming countries.

At the close of the Summit, the Algerian President, Mr. Bouteflika, speaking on behalf of the assembled leaders, thanked the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah, for hosting the event and for the hospitality of the people and government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The President said the long term strategy, which the Riyadh Summit had adopted, took into account the strategic interests of future generations. The Riyadh Declaration, he said, gives precedence to dialogue, cooperation and partnership between oil producers and consumers as key to achieving prosperity for all. Embedded in this mission, the President continued, was “our relentless pursuit to solidify our solidarity with the least developed countries…There is no doubt, that the Riyadh Declaration truly reflects the goals and ambitions which we all aspire to realize, and which are an integral part of OPEC's policy since its creation.”

Summit review

The Riyadh Summit has been variously described as a milestone event in the Organization's history and a family gathering to which the entire international community was invited. The event came at a time of tension on world oil markets. The Summit sought to map out strategic direction and was seen as a vital step in the advancement of the unique mission of OPEC. The Summit ran under the banner of three primary themes: Providing Petroleum; Promoting Prosperity; and Protecting the Planet. The themes were variously reflected in the action-oriented Riyadh Declaration, which a trilateral ministerial committee of OPEC foreign, finance and energy ministers, chaired by HRH Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Saudi Foreign Minister, finalized.

Earlier on (November 15-16), there was a Ministerial Symposium (see separate press release); and on November 13-16, an International Oil Exhibition which featured, inter alia, national oil companies, oil service firms and related enterprises. Also of interest and at the sidelines of the Summit was a Tour of Opinion Leaders as well as an Awards Ceremony at which former OPEC Secretaries-General and accomplished researchers and journalists were honored by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques on behalf of OPEC.

Summit outcome

The Director-General of OFID, Mr. Suleiman Jasir Al-Herbish, described the outcome of the Summit as particularly welcome. Mr. Al-Herbish expressed appreciation for the repeated mention of OFID in the Summit Declaration, and thanked the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for the citation of OFID in the King’s own opening remarks. Mr. Al-Herbish saw in the mention and citation needed encouragement for his institution to stay the course, continue with its mandate and exert itself even further. Mr. Al-Herbish told his colleagues that this was kind recognition of the labors of OFID at the highest level and encouragement to work even harder to stay relevant to the international community. The Director-General, at the head of OFID’s own delegation to the Riyadh Summit, took the opportunity to address an international press conference (see separate press release) and grant numerous interviews in his efforts to additionally raise the profile of the institution. In some of the interviews, Mr. Al-Herbish found words of commendation for the excellent organization of the Summit by the Organizing Committee and for the hospitality extended by the Saudis to all delegations, including OFID’s.

OFID had an exhibition stand, at which dedicated staff briefed visitors eager to learn about the mission, the operations, objectives, the record and accomplishments of the institution.