Al-Naimi addresses London Energy Ministers Meeting 2 London

I would like to start my comments today with a reflection on how
inter-related our world has become. In the not-too distant past, it
was possible for nations to be relatively insular; turmoil in one
part of the world did not necessarily touch another.

With the advent of free trade, integrated markets and the Information Age, however,
no nation is fully immune. Sluggish markets and scaled -back
investment are impacting world economies, with especially dire
consequences for the prospects of developing nations. A harsh lesson
from today's concurrent global economic slowdown is that no economy
can decouple from the rest of the globe. Therefore, in this
increasingly interconnected, interdependent world, it is in
everyone's best interests to work together towards recovery, a fact
not lost on the many governments and central banks around the world
which have taken unprecedented, coordinated action to restore
stability to financial markets.
Six months ago, oil prices touched record levels. The speed of the
price increase was stunning as oil prices went from just over $70 per
barrel in September 2007 to an all-time high of more than $147 in
July of 2008. Saudi Arabia called for the Jeddah meeting in response
to these untenable oil prices, and the response was overwhelmingly
good, with some 38 countries, four international organizations and 30
oil companies attending. I do feel that our first energy meeting,
which aimed at producers and consumers joining hands, and Saudi
Arabia's decision to increase production, aided in moderating the
price of oil down to levels commensurate with supply-demand balances
and market fundamentals.
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