Arne Walther, the Secretary General of the International Energy Forum (IEF) has hailed the great attention given by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz to the forum, and underlined the importance of cooperation between oil producing and consuming countries.
Addressing a press conference here on Friday evening, attended by a number of senior officials, Walther expressed his happiness over the official inauguration of the headquarters of the International Energy Forum Secretariat (IEFS) and thanked King Abdullah for providing the forum's general secretariat with a beautiful building, as well as for the meeting of the oil ministers and executive directors of the big oil companies.
Walther said the opening of the IEFS testifies to the importance and potential of the producer-consumer dialogue in the International Energy Forum (IEF) at a time when oil prices and energy security are a major global concern. "This is a time for global energy dialogue to promote energy security and address the links between energy, environment and economic development in an increasingly interdependent world.
"The IEF is a unique vehicle for international cooperation across traditional political, economic and energy policy dividing lines. Nowhere else do ministers of energy producing and consuming countries, of industrialized, as well as developing countries, of the IEA and OPEC along with the increasingly important countries independent of these, meet in an informal dialogue. This political dialogue also recognizes the importance of dialogue and partnerships between governments and industry itself. Ministers and CEOs interact in the International Energy Business Forum in conjunction with the biannual Ministerials. An important add-on is the opportunity that these ministerials provide for a network of bilateral meetings," he said.
"Such is the setting also for our meeting today. Leading experts will make presentations on the global economy and the oil market and industry as well as on technology and information and oil market stability. Panel discussions will also provide guidance for preparations for the 10th IEF ministerial meeting and 2nd International Energy Business Forum, to be hosted in Doha on April 22-24, next year," Walther said.
"The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques has kindly consented to release the Joint Oil Data Initiative (JODI) world database to the public this afternoon," he noted.
"More than 90 countries, representing 95 per cent of global supply and demand, are now submitting data on oil production, demand and stocks," Walther said.
"Since we have seven of the G8 countries here today, let me say how encouraged we were by the Gleneagles Summit statement that emphasized the importance of the producer-consumer dialogue in the IEF and the Secretariat's coordination of the Joint Oil Data Initiative as means to reduce market volatility and promote energy security. That G8 emphasis has later been echoed also by other regional and international organizations."
He also thanked Indian Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mani Shankar Aiyar for the "Asian Energy Vision" he presented when giving the first IEF lecture in Riyadh in March this year. It attracted Saudi officials, foreign ambassadors, executives of oil companies and financial institutions as well as the media.
In promoting the global dialogue on energy in the IEF, Walther said: "It is the objective of the Secretariat to give ministers added value input and platforms for dialogue that you would find useful in your national decision-making and participation in other patterns of international energy cooperation. For this, we need not only your political guidance, but also your financial support.
"Let me thank those ministers, whose countries have made their voluntary financial contributions to Secretariat activity for this year. I hope that those, who have not yet done so, will do so. It goes without saying that contributions from industry are certainly also highly appreciated.
"Let me especially thank the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Ali Ibrahim Al-Naimi most particularly, for being such a gracious host country to the Secretariat and for providing so much political and financial support to our activity," Walther added.
