World leaders praise Jeddah Energy Meeting

Riyadh, June 28, SPA -- The Jeddah Energy Meeting, recently held in
Jeddah under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques
King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has received wide-range welcome
and appraise from several leaders and dignitaries of the world.

In separate statements issued over the last few days, they hailed the
outcome of the meeting.

In a message to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah
bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in the aftermath of the meeting, President
Dmitriy Anatolyevich Medvedev of Russia said that Saudi-Russian
political cooperation became a positive factor contributing to solve
the international and regional issues and to maintain the stability
in world energy market.

In Washington, the World Bank President Robert Zoellick has said the
WB will work along with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to find the best
possible means of supporting the initiative of the Custodian of the
Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz pertaining to providing
energy assistance to poor countries in the world.

"King Abdullah announced his initiative on Sunday at Jeddah Energy
Meeting," Zoellick said in a statement. He noted that King Abdullah
announced at the meeting the allocation of $500 million from the
Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) as soft loans to poor countries so
as to meet their energy requirements.

"Moreover, King Abdullah asked the World Bank to organize a
conference for the donor countries and the international development
organizations to activate his initiative and make energy available
for the poor," Zoellick said.

Among those hailing the meeting, the U.S. White House welcomed Saudi
Arabia's willingness to increase its oil production if needed. For
his part, the Australian Prime Minister described the the meeting as
the right step in the right direction.

At the end of Jeddah Energy Meeting, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and
the Secretariats of the International Energy Agency, the
International Energy Forum and the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries issued a Joint Statement.

Following is the text of the Joint Statement:
Upon a timely and kind invitation from the Government of the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia and under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two
Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz, Ministers and
representatives from many producing and consuming countries, with the
attendance of oil industry representatives as observers, met in
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on 22 June 2008, to discuss the current oil
market situation.

Participants noted with concern that oil prices have risen sharply
and become more volatile, due to a host of factors. They sought to
identify the causes and consequences of recent price behavior and
suggested areas of improvement for the efficient operation of the oil
market.

Participants also noted that current oil prices and their volatility
are detrimental to the global economy and, in particular, the
economies of least-developed countries.

Participants agreed that the situation requires concerted efforts
from all parties — producing and consuming countries, the oil
industry and all concerned parties — to bring stability to the
international oil market for the benefit of all.
Taking into account their diverse national circumstances and
priorities, as well as their shared interest in a stable global oil
market and sustainable economic growth, the participants recognized
the importance of the following:

• That the existence of spare capacity throughout the oil supply
chain is important for the stability of the global oil market. Hence
an appropriate increase in investment, both upstream and downstream,
is necessary to ensure that the markets are supplied in a timely and
adequate manner.
Predictable energy and investment policies, as well as better access
to technology, are necessary to this end.

• That the transparency and regulation of financial markets should
be improved through measures to capture more data on index fund
activity and to examine cross-exchange interactions in the crude
market.

• That the quality, completeness and timeliness of oil data submitted
through the monthly Joint Oil Data Initiative (JODI) should be
enhanced. In order to further improve market transparency and
stability, the seven organizations involved in JODI (APEC, Eurostat,
IEA, IEF, OLADE, OPEC and UNSD) are called upon to start work to
cover annual data, that includes, among other things, upstream and
downstream capacities and expansion plans.

• That there should be immediate collaboration between the IEA and
OPEC Secretariats, together with the IEF Secretariat, on preparing
shared analyses of oil market trends and outlook, as well as of the
impact of financial markets on the level and volatility of oil
prices, which can be used to better understand the market situation.

• That development assistance from the national, regional and
international finance and aid institutions, is intensified, to
alleviate the consequences of higher oil prices on the
least-developed countries.

• That co-operation is enhanced among international, national and
service companies from all producing and consuming countries in
investment, technology and human resource development.

• That energy efficiency is promoted in all sectors through passing
on market price signals, technology transfer and the sharing of best
practices in energy production and consumption.
The host and the parties to this statement will convene a working
group to follow up the needed actions from the above, as appropriate.
Participants welcomed the kind invitation from the UK government to
hold a meeting on the progress made on the above issues in London
before the end of the year.-- SPA