The 146th (Extraordinary) Meeting of the Conference of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) convened in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on 5 December 2007, under the Chairmanship of its President, HE Mohamed Bin Dhaen Al Hamli, Minister of Energy of the United Arab Emirates and Head of its Delegation, and its Alternate President, HE Dr Chakib Khelil, Minister of Energy and Mines of Algeria and Head of its Delegation.
The Conference congratulated Ecuador on its resumption of full Membership of the Organization, and extended a warm welcome to its Delegation, headed by HE Engineer Guillermo Granja, Undersecretary of Hydrocarbons, representing HE Galo Chiriboga Zambrano, Ecuadors Minister of Mines and Petroleum.
The Conference also congratulated HE Gholamhossein Nozari on his appointment as Minister of Petroleum of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Furthermore, the Conference welcomed the presence of the Minister of Petroleum of the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Minister of Oil and Gas of the Sultanate of Oman, the Deputy Minister of Industry and Energy of the Russian Federation, the Minister of Energy and Mining of Sudan and the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Syria, attending the Meeting as Observers.
The Conference considered the report of the Ministerial Monitoring Sub-Committee, whose Members the Conference once again thanked for their untiring efforts on behalf of the Organization, as well as other presentations.
Having reviewed the oil market outlook, including the overall demand/supply projections for the year 2008, in particular the first and second quarters, the Conference observed that market fundamentals have essentially remained unchanged, with the market continuing to be well supplied and commercial crude/product stocks remaining at comfortable levels in terms of days of forward cover.
At the same time, however, the Conference observed, with concern, that world oil prices remained volatile, in major part due to the perception of market tightness by market players, exacerbated by non-fundamental factors, including the heavy influx of financial funds into commodities and speculative activity in the markets, while geopolitical developments have contributed to price volatility.
In view of the aforementioned, the Conference decided to leave OPEC production unchanged for the time being. The Conference again emphasized the Organizations determination to take every measure deemed necessary to keep market stability through the maintenance of supply and demand in balance. Given the need for extreme vigilance in assessing the market during the coming months, the Conference decided to convene an Extraordinary Meeting in Vienna, Austria, on Friday, 1 February 2008. The Conference also confirmed that its next Ordinary Meeting will be held on 5 March 2008, in Vienna.
The Conference unanimously agreed that Members Angola and Ecuador should have a production allocation of 1.9 mb/d and 520,000 b/d, respectively.
The Conference approved the Budget of the Organization for the year 2008.
The Conference expressed its sincere gratitude to His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, as well as the Government and people of the United Arab Emirates, for having hosted the Meeting and for the friendly welcome extended to the Conference and all Delegates. In addition, the Conference recorded its special thanks to HE Al Hamli, Minister of Energy, and his Staff for their warm hospitality and the excellent arrangements made for the Meeting.
The Conference passed Resolutions that will be published on 5 January 2008, after ratification by Member Countries.