Vienna, 2 December 2005--The second meeting of the EU-OPEC Energy Dialogue was held here today at the OPEC Secretariat.

The meeting in the Austrian capital welcomed the progress made in furthering cooperation and constructive dialogue between OPEC and the EU, following the first ministerial talks held in Brussels in June this year.

A communiqué issued at the end of the meeting said the talks were viewed by the EU as "part of a broader approach to strengthen energy relationships with the main oil and gas suppliers, and by OPEC as a significant further step in its continued efforts to enhance dialogue and cooperation among oil producers and consumers, whether prices are low or high."

The meeting reviewed the report of the first joint roundtable on oil market developments, which was held in Vienna in November. The roundtable assessed current developments in the international oil market and looked at future prospects. It recognised two areas where mutual cooperation could further be enhanced - refining and the financial markets. To this end, the meeting "recommended that a study on refining (focusing on the EU) may be undertaken and that a workshop on the financial markets, with broad participation, may be organised, following further preparatory research work".

While acknowledging the recent moderation in oil prices, the ministers expressed concern over the persistent volatility of the oil market. The meeting also noted OPEC’s intentions to increase production and accelerate capacity expansion plans that should ensure that international oil markets are well-supplied with crude oil. It also welcomed "the newly-announced OPEC production capacities that are planned to come on-stream throughout the rest of this decade." In addition, the meeting also took note of the EU’s concern over the current high level of oil prices and the impact on global economic growth, in particular for developing countries. Ministers restated the importance for both the EU and OPEC to ensure the necessary mobilisation of needed investment to support upstream and downstream oil sector development and of the need to ensure healthy spare capacity and stocks.

OPEC's effort at providing ample information through its various publications of its production expansion and investment plans was commended, as were the actions taken by the EU in ensuring the release of its emergency oil stocks, "within the IEA mechanism, and OPEC, by making available to the market spare capacity of around 2mb/d for a period of three months as of October 1, amongst others," which the meeting acknowledged had helped calm markets after the devastation caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the United States.

The meeting also explored the possibility of setting-up an EU-OPEC technology centre as a means to fostering closer cooperation between the two organizations.

In attendance at the meeting were OPEC Conference President and Kuwait Minister of Energy, Sheikh Ahmad Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and Dr Edmund Maduabebe Daukoru, Minister of State for Petroleum of Nigeria, and Alternate President of the OPEC Conference, as well as Dr Adnan Shihab–Eldin, Acting for the OPEC Secretary General, and Director of the OPEC Research Division. The EU was represented by Malcolm Wicks, UK Minister of Energy and President of the EU Council, Andris Piebalgs, European Commissioner for Energy, as well as Dr Martin Bartenstein, Minister of Economy and Labour of Austria.

The third meeting of the Energy Dialogue is to be held in June 2006 in Brussels.