Official Speeches
The Sixth International Energy Week
OCTOBER 24th–25th 2011
Mr. Chairman,
Excellencies ladies and gentlemen,
Good Morning,
It is my pleasure to express my sincere appreciation to the Organizing Committee for their kind invitation to participate and speak at this important event.
The choice of "Moscow Energy Dialogue" as a theme for this Forum, reflects a good foresight, given the role that the Russian Federation is playing actively in the global energy scene on one hand, and the importance of energy dialogue toward promoting stability and mitigating energy market volatility for the benefit of both producers and consumers, on the other hand.
The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) which I represent, as other oil producing countries, its members support and play a great role for the stability of the energy market and share a common objective of supplying the world with the needed energy for which stability and continuity of supply are vital prerequisites.
Excellencies ladies and gentlemen,
Allow me to take this opportunity to speak about (OAPEC), since there are some participants who may not have any idea about OAPEC and may not differentiate between OPEC and OAPEC.
The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) was founded in 1968 by Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Libya. They agreed that Kuwait to be the venue of the Organization.
Currently, the Organization represents eleven member countries, including the three founding members, namely Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Qatar, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Tunisia which its membership is not active for the time being.
(OAPEC) is a regional inter-governmental organization concerned with the development of the petroleum industry by fostering cooperation among its members. It contributes to the effective use of the resources of member countries through sponsoring joint ventures. The Organization is guided by the belief in the importance of building an integrated petroleum industry as a cornerstone for future economic integration amongst Arab countries.
OAPEC has established and created a number of joint ventures, namely:
- Arab Maritime PetroleumTransportCompany(AMPTC) which is located in Kuwait andspecializedin the maritime transportation of hydrocarbons.
- Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard Company (ASRY) which is locatedin Bahrain and specialized in building, repair and maintenance of ships, tankers and other transport vessels.
- Arab Petroleum Investment Corporation (APICORP) located in Saudi Arabia, withaprimary purpose of assisting in project financing in the petroleum sector.
- Arab Petroleum Services Company (APSCO) (located in Libya) which provide petroleum services through specialized subsidiaries,in addition to all that the Arab Petroleum Training Institute which is located in Baghdad.
Furthermore, OAPEC member countries play an important role in the global oil and natural gas markets whether on an individual basis or through OPEC as seven of the major Arab oil exporting countries are members in both OAPEC and OPEC at the same time.
Excellencies ladies and gentlemen,
OAPEC's contribution to meet the world energy demand and to stabilize the oil market is significant. With their great facilities and capabilities and huge hydrocarbon resources, its member countries have the potential to play an even bigger role in the future.
Member countries together, hold about 56% of the world's proven reserves of crude oil, but only contribute 28% of global oil output.
Similarly, while OAPEC holds over 28% of proven natural gas reserves, it only accounts for about 14% of total natural gas output.
OAPEC member countries are striving to secure world energy supplies through their oil and natural gas exports as well as meeting the growing domestic energy needs.
Its Member countries exports of crude oil and oil products to the world markets totalled 17.3 mn b/d in 2010, representing about 29% of world total. It supplied about 19% of North America oil imports, 25% of Europe and 45% of Asia-Pacific. As for natural gas, OAPEC exported 183.5 billion cubic meters (bcm), accounting for 19% of world total. About 62% of which were in the form of LNG, while the rest were pipeline gas.
Member countries have spared no effort to achieve these goals as they are investing huge amounts to maintain and expand their oil and natural gas production and export capacities and to implement large number of projects for developing their energy sector in general. In return for such huge investment by our member countries, we believe that security of demand is essential as a legitimate concern for producers, just as consumers express concern over the security of supply.
In fact, energy strategies in many OAPEC and other Arab countries are now extending beyond oil and gas to include renewables, namely solar and wind power, as well as other energy alternatives.
Excellencies ladies and gentlemen,
In summing up, let me stress once again that in addition to fostering cooperation among member countries, OAPEC will continue to play an increasing role in meeting world energy needs for decades to come.
Thank you for your kind attention.