International   

Crucial OPEC summit begins in Riyadh

DUBAI: The heads of state of the powerful energy grouping, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), began a rare two-day summit in Riyadh on Saturday.

“The summit is a political, not technical meeting — and as such is unlikely to make specific decisions on prices and production — but a strategic statement on oil markets and prices seems a certainty,” said a study published by the Dubai-based Gulf Research Centre (GRC) ahead of the meeting. This is only the third occasion since OPEC’s formation that the grouping’s country heads have met.

Analysts point out that at the end of the summit, OPEC through a declaration would like to make two points. First, oil has a long term future in the global economy because member countries would invest in developing new capacity. Second, it would be possible to increase the use of fossil fuels without undermining efforts to combat climate change.

With climate change in focus, OPEC is expected to float a $1billion fund on clean energy. It has suggested that cleaning fossil fuels is possible by developing technologies to capture and store carbon dioxide emissions.

Discussions have revolved around high oil prices which have been hovering around the $100 a barrel mark. Iran, a major OPEC player, has been arguing against price reduction. It has attributed high prices to the rapid decline in the value of the dollar. The Iranian delegation has said when measured in euros, the average price this year is significantly lower compared to the prevailing price last year.

Iran wanted the value of the depreciating dollar to be referred in the final declaration. However, Saudi Arabia has strongly objected to the move.

Iran’s ally Venezuela has advocated the development of an OPEC development bank, as well as greater cooperation among the national oil companies of member states.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Rafael Ramirez also urged that the declaration should not confine itself to technical subjects, but cover “political issues” too.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Pakistan journalists protest closure of two TV channels
GEO TV pondering alternatives
Cyclone death toll put at 1,070
Crucial OPEC summit begins in Riyadh
China’s political party system innovative
LTTE offensive thwarted
Sectarian row
Israel, Abbas agree to peace talks timeline
Iran to finalise gas pipeline project with Pakistan
South Asia-related project at Harvard University

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu