Assistant Minister holds press conference on Jeddah Energy Meeting

JEDDAH, June 21 (SPA) - Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Assistant Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources for Petroleum Affairs, who is also Chairman of the Organizing Committee for Jeddah Energy Meeting, said that Saudi Arabia is striving to restore stability to oil markets, but at the same time, he suggested, that the matter requires collective cooperation in several areas, as it is not possible for one party to identify solutions.
In a press conference on the eve of the meeting for oil producing and consuming countries scheduled for Jeddah tomorrow under
the auspices of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah
bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, he said that the joint working paper
submitted by the International Energy Agency, OPEC, International
Energy Forum, and Saudi Arabia along with a number of countries to
Jeddah Energy Meeting takes into account the interests of exporters
and consumers.
He added that "In this paper, we did not talk about specific reasons, but about what is being done by others in order to solve the crisis that all of us are facing."
He pointed out that OPEC, the International Energy Forum, and
the International Energy Agency discussed over the last few days the
current problems regarding energy prices, and put some views about
the efforts, and solutions to address those problems.
He stressed that the decisions on production levels in the
Kingdom were subject to the concept of supply and demand. "The
Kingdom increases its production according to market requirements",
he added.
He explained that Jeddah Energy Meeting will address the
causes of high oil prices to the current level before reaching
collective solutions to address those causes and problems.
He said "We have our analysis of the current situation, and we do not prefer a solution to another, but we will discuss the issues the attendees wish to discuss and try to reach proposals that would contribute to solving this crisis, with the understanding that the issues tackled are difficult and thorny."
He stressed that the meeting will depend on the spirit of
mutual understanding among the participants. "We are in a position
that requires the attention of everybody as it is inappropriate to
blame each other. Instead, we have to work together to find solutions", he added.
The prince also stressed keenness on the success of this
conference to help the poor, the deprived and the least developed
countries in the world. He said, "We will work for the prosperity of
the world economy and we will spare no effort to make this conference
a success."
Asked on what Saudi Arabia is planning to offer tomorrow to bring down the souring oil prices, the Assistant Minister for Petroleum and Mineral Resources said that Saudi Arabia would talk about the accumulating reasons which led to high oil prices in recent years.
The nature of the problem is that all things are relative, distancing the groups and individuals from each other. So, we proposed a package of reasons behind this problem and suggested positive scientific approaches to reach successful solutions", he said.
In response to a question, he said our expectations on the
outcome of the meeting are high. At least, we could reach agreement
on general principles that can be applied for the remedy to this
situation, he added.
He said that the Kingdom felt that there is dire need to move
forward to find solutions and adopt scientific methods of these
solutions. Accordingly, we thought it would be imperative to bring
together stakeholders here to discuss these matters, he said.
He considered this gathering as yet another evidence of the
sincere feeling and sense of responsibility of the Custodian of the
Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. "The Kingdom has
continued and will continue to present initiatives, not just on the
issue of oil", he said.
On the Saudi view on the current rise of oil prices, he pointed out that the Kingdom prefers that prices remain stable and sustainable for long periods, adding that the Kingdom is always
interested in long-term thinking. For instance, it is our vital
interest that we prolong the age of our oil stock but oil prices are
subject to supply and demand conditions.
Asked about the extent of the wish of the countries
participating in this meeting to support the stability of global oil
markets, he said "We're working with our partners in the market to
find realistic solutions for the current oil market situation. We
have to find different solutions to different view points. So, in our
paper, we did not speak about specific reasons but about what others
are doing to help solve this crisis which faces all of us".