OPEC 132nd Meeting of the OPEC Conference
Posted: 22 September 2004
The 132nd Meeting of the Conference of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) convened in Vienna, Austria, on September 15, 2004, under the Chairmanship of its President, HE Dr Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Minister of Energy & Mineral Resources of Indonesia and Head of its Delegation, and its Alternate President, HE Sheikh Ahmad Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Minister of Oil of the State of Kuwait and Head of its Delegation.
The Conference again highlighted the importance of further strengthening effective co-operation with all non-OPEC producing countries in the interests of maintaining stability in the oil market with reasonable prices acceptable to both producers and consumers.
The Conference considered the Secretary General's report, the report of the Economic Commission Board, the report of the Ministerial Monitoring Sub-Committee (MMSC), chaired by HE Bijan Namdar Zangeneh, Minister of Petroleum of the Islamic Republic of Iran, whose Members the Conference again thanked for their continued efforts on the Organization’s behalf, and various administrative matters.
Having reviewed the current oil market, the Conference noted that higher crude oil prices are a result of such factors as the demand surge earlier in the year, especially in North America, China and Asian countries, geopolitical factors and concern about adequacy of spare capacity to meet possible supply disruptions, exacerbated by the significant impact of speculators and by tightness experienced in the downstream industry. It also observed that OPEC’s timely actions had been effective in ensuring that the market remains well supplied, resulting in commercial OECD stocks build-up to levels close to normal, thus succeeding in reversing the OPEC Reference Basket price trend down to levels around US$38/b.
In light of the foregoing, the Conference decided to raise the OPEC production ceiling (excluding Iraq) by 1.0 mb/d, to 27.0 mb/d, with effect from November 1, 2004, in order to bring prices down further to a more sustainable level, whilst, at the same time, vigilantly monitoring market developments. In taking this decision, the Organization reiterated its commitment to take action to stabilize the market at prices reasonable to both producers and consumers.
Taking into consideration the market outlook for 2005, with its concomitant uncertainties, especially in the first and second quarters, the Conference further decided to convene an Extraordinary Meeting in Cairo , Egypt , on December 10, 2004 to review market developments and take whatever measures are deemed appropriate at that time.
Taking this decision in recognition of the importance of maintaining oil market stability for the benefit of the world economy, as well as consumers and producers, the Conference expressed its expectation that non-OPEC oil producers will take concrete measures to actively share with the Organization the responsibility of maintaining price and market stability in 2005 and thereafter.
The Conference elected HE Sheikh Ahmad Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Minister of Energy of the State of Kuwait and Head of its Delegation, as President of the Conference for one year, with effect from January 1, 2005, and HE Dr Edmund M Daukoru, Nigerian Presidential Adviser on Petroleum & Energy and Head of its Delegation, as Alternate President, for the same period.
The Conference appointed Mr Hamid Dahmani, Governor for Algeria , as Chairman of the Board of Governors for the year 2005, and Dr Maizar Rahman, Governor for Indonesia , as Alternate Chairman for the same period, with effect from January 1, 2005 .
The Conference decided that its next Ordinary Meeting will convene in Mahmoud Abad, Islamic Republic of Iran, on March 16, 2005 .
The Conference expressed its appreciation to the Government of the Republic of Austria and the authorities of the City of Vienna for their warm hospitality and the excellent arrangements made for the Meeting.
The Conference passed Resolutions that will be published on October 15, 2004 , after ratification by Member Countries.
Posted by Editor Pipeline Magazine
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