Yes, at the right conditions, OPEC can provide an increasing amount of oil to meet the expected growth of global oil demand. OPEC currently produces about 45 per cent of the world's crude oil, but that is forecast to grow to more than 50 per cent in the next quarter of a century.

OPEC has a policy of maintaining stability in the oil market, and its Member Countries have often done this by increasing or decreasing the amount of oil they produce. Only OPEC nations have a significant spare oil production capacity, and this enables them to increase production at relatively short notice. However, because OPEC is not the only source of oil in the market, it cannot guarantee the movement of oil prices, or the availability of supplies to all consumers at all times.

OPEC has around 78 per cent of the world's oil reserves, and this will enable us to expand oil production to meet the growth in demand. But in order to expand our output, we need to be sure that the oil industry will continue to be profitable. Oil producers invest billions of dollars in exploration and infrastructure (drilling and pumping, pipelines, docks, storage, refining, staff housing, etc) and a new oil field can take 3-10 years to locate and develop.

If oil producers do not invest enough money and do it far enough in advance, then the world could face a shortage of oil supplies in future.

Therefore, OPEC is concerned about issues that undermine the prosperity of the oil industry and thus threaten the security of world oil supplies. One such issue is oil taxation in the consuming countries.

Oil taxes reduce the incomes of oil producers, and limit the funds they have available for maintenance, exploration and production activities.

Oil taxes also limit the growth in oil demand and raise costs for other industries. As a result, oil producers and other investors are unsure of the future development of oil prices and profits, and they might hesitate from making the necessary investments.

Although OPEC does try to maintain stability and invest in a timely manner, our efforts to guarantee the security of oil supplies can be undermined - or supported - by the actions of oil consumers.