OPEC Second Summit Opens in VenezuelaA summit meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was inaugurated Wednesday Caracas, only the second such gathering in the group's 40-year history.Algerian President Abelaziz Bouteflika and the president of the host country, Hugo Chavez, delivered speeches respectively during the inauguration ceremony. The summit was attended by Indonesian President Adurrahman Wahid, Iranian President Seyyed Mohammed Khatami, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasango, Qatar Emir Hamand Bin Khalifa Al-Thani and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz. The Emir of Fujairah of the United Arab Emirates, Hamad Bin Mohamed Al Sharqui, Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan, the member of the Libyan Revolutionary Council, Moustafa Al Kharroubi, and Kuwaiti Oil Minister Saud Nasser Al Sabah attended the meeting representing their head of states. Leaders of the OPEC member countries, who have not met since the last summit in 1975, will try to ratify in the next two days a just oil price to promote a mechanism of dialogue between consumers and producers, and to issue a message of the organization. The summit will not center itself only in the oil issues, but also in those topics that concern humanity, such as poverty, foreign debt and sovereignty, President Chavez said. The summit is due to end Thursday with a solemn declaration, expected to stress the group's solidarity and commitment to market stability, as well as pledging to hold such high-level OPEC meetings more regularly. Organizers say the summit will underline OPEC's willingness to hold a dialogue with consumer nations, something the Group of Seven leading industrialized countries and the European Union (EU) had requested. OPEC founded on September 14, 1960, has 11 member countries now: Saudi Arabia, Algeria, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Kuwait, Nigeria, Qatar, and Venezuela. Venezuelan Mines and Energy Minister Ali Rodriguez is the rotating chairman of the cartel. OPEC represents 40 percent of the world production and 75 percent of the possible crude reserves in all the world. Representatives of five independent producing countries: Mexico, Russia, Oman, Angola and Norway, took part in the summit with an observer status. |
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