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Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman holds Press Conference
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 15, 2007, SPA - Prince Abdulaziz
bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Assistant Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources
for Petroleum Affairs held here yesterday a joint press conference with the Secretary
General of OPEC Abdullah Bin Salem Al-Badri on the occasion of the Third OPEC summit, starting its two-day deliberation in Riyadh on Saturday.
At the beginning of the Conference, Prince Abdulaziz welcomed the Secretary General
of OPEC and the guests explaining that the conference will highlight the summit's
title "Providing supplies, Promoting prosperity and Protecting environment" which
represents the objectives of the organization.
In his speech the Prince said that the organization aims throughout this gathering
to introduce and provide a clearer picture of the organization and its role in providing
supplies or what it does as countries or as an organization to participate in finding
solutions and the alternatives to solve the important issues such as climate change
or any other environmental things. "We want through this summit to highlight the
role of this Organization and its state members, to be effective contributor and
partner in every matter contributing to the prosperity and development of the states
in general and the developing countries in particular.
He also talked about the regulatory aspects saying, we, as an organizing committee,
put a center of communications and we deliberately call it by that name and we did
not call it an information center because our goal is to provide all means of information
communication for each media delegate to do his job and present his message and
we also provided it with all the means and capabilities for achieving that mission.
He stressed that the field is open to any proposal to the communications center
saying," We want to develop the center's level, to be a new model for what communications
centers must be in the future and we wish that you convey true image about this
organization and the hosting country of the summit as you are our partners in this
success".
On his part, Secretary General of OPEC Abdullah Bin Salem Al-Badri thanked Saudi
Arabia for hosting OPEC summit and its efforts for the summit's success, saying,"
This is the third time that I visit Riyadh and the previous two times were for coordination
for the establishment of this summit. We have worked on preparation of the summit's
declaration."
Then, Prince Abdulaziz answered a question about the role and impact of petrochemical
projects on the petroleum industry saying, the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral
Resources talked in a press conference yesterday on many aspects of the Kingdom
in the area of investments whether in increasing energy or refining capacity, in
and outside Saudi Arabia rapidly and concisely and I want from any one who attended
here to list any other state, producer or consumer, that has presented obligations
with these amounts."
He added, "Saudi Arabia plans, implements and enables the world to see what are
the plans and things committed on the ground and implemented in a manner either
at a specific time or ahead of time, for example, Saudi Arabia's investments in
the refining sector inside or outside the Kingdom exceed some countries well-known
in refining.
On the possibility of OPEC 's changing the accounting mechanisms from dollar into
other currencies, the Secretary-General of OPEC said, "The value of the dollar compared
to other currencies declined, but crude oil pricing policy is linked with countries'
policies and the Organization Secretariat is not working on this and this is not
on our agenda because it proposes to the member states to change the pricing mechanisms
to shift from the dollar to other currencies. I would like to focus on this because
it is linked to policies of member states and it varies from one state to another."
He added, "Some states, for example, which sell their Petroleum against the dollar
and buy from the United States of America are not affected greatly, but countries
that sell and buy with other currencies may be affected and therefore this is a
special policy for member states and the secretariat is not interested in this matter".
The Secretary General of OPEC stressed that the members of the organization do not
use petroleum which is sold to the whole world as a political weapon and he said
"we did not use this kind within the framework
of OPEC in the past and we will not
use it as a political weapon in the future, as we provide to the world 40% of the
needs of oil consumers. We have 80% of the world's reserves and the capacity to
take advantage of these capabilities by increasing our production which will be
increased in 2030 to 90 million barrels per day and there is an amount of $ 150
billion in investments for increasing production capacity until 2050. We do not
aim to use this additional capability or our present capability as a political weapon
against any other countries".
On the Saudi-Russian relations and the visits paid by the Custodian of the Two Holy
Mosques to Russia and the Russian President to the Kingdom, Prince Abdulaziz bin
Salman said," There is a real embodiment of the value of these two visits. In September
2003, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques visited Russia and during that visit
there were many positive things achieved including a joint cooperation agreement
in the field of energy" .
He added that the results of this agreement is a formation of a joint technical
committee between the two concerned parties to follow up the implementation of this
agreement to provide opportunities for joint investment environment to enable companies
in both countries to invest in Saudi Arabia and Russia.
He stressed that the results of this visit are the continuation of cooperation with
Ubrime company in the gas sector as well as oil services companies operating in
the Kingdom adding," There are many activities for Saudi businessmen in Russia and
there are many activities in the area of petroleum investments in general and we
wish to continue this relationship and grow from one stage to another where to enhance
the political relationship between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
On Brazil's accession to OPEC, Secretary General of OPEC said," we have not received
a formal request from Brazil to join the organization and the organization does
not seek the joining of any state, but if any state has the same goals and interests
of the organization, we welcome it."
Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz stressed that as an organizing committee,
"we provide all facilities that will help to ensure the success of the summit."
Prince Abdulaziz stressed that Saudi Arabia has taken all measures to secure and
protect its oil installations against Al Qaeda, pointing out that the Kingdom has
received letters of thanks from the international community for its efforts in this
regard.
On the economic relations between Saudi Arabia and China Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman
said the Kingdom seeks to be the first source for China through the signed agreements
between the two countries.
On the monthly change in the production of the United Arab Emirates which has been
recently increased at the rate of 500,000 barrels per day and has an impact on the
market, the Secretary General of OPEC said, " There is enough oil available in the
market and there will be no shortage of it in the world markets" .
He added, "We are preparing a meeting, which will be held in December in Abu Dhabi
and we will explain our figures through the Ministers, and it is up to them to decide.
And these quantities from the Emirates indicate that they have returned to their
normal and natural production." |
