OPEC will have a new home in two months’ time.

This will be about a kilometre from where its Secretariat has been based for the past three decades.

It involves a move across Vienna’s Danube Canal to a new, purpose-built, state-of-the-art block of
offices in the city centre.

In the build-up to this, an important ceremony took place in Austria’s Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs in Vienna yesterday afternoon (30 September).

This saw Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger and OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem El-Badri undertake the signing ceremony of the Protocol to the OPEC Headquarters Agreement between the Republic of Austria and OPEC. This amended the existing Headquarters Agreement between the two parties to facilitate the move.

Spindelegger said that a new chapter had been opened between Austria and OPEC: “Ever since OPEC decided in 1965 to choose Austria as its host country, the relations have been sincere and fruitful. We are delighted that we can continue with this longstanding friendship and close partnership in the same spirit.

“I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Secretary General of OPEC for his leadership in making this new agreement possible.”

He continued: “A new state-of-the-art headquarters will enable the Organization to fulfil its challenging duties even better than in the past.”

He assured the Secretary General of Austria’s continued support, adding: “Austria is not only your host country, but, at the same time, your partner and friend. May the new OPEC Headquarters also be a symbol of our fruitful partnership.”

In his response, El-Badri said: “It is a great pleasure for OPEC and our Member Countries to be here in Vienna.” He added: “We are here because … you invited us way back in 1965.”

He also remarked: “I would like to thank the Austrian Government and people for hosting us here in Vienna. Vienna is a beautiful town, as I have told you many times.”

He underlined the importance of the imminent move, when he pointed out that the Organization would be celebrating its 50th anniversary next year.

Indeed, OPEC was looking forward to “another 50 years or maybe more” to come, because, with its strong crude oil reserve base, “we can supply the world with enough oil, as much as they want.”

Both the Foreign Minister and the Secretary General thanked all the people who had been involved in the project to relocate the Secretariat.

Also present at the ceremony was Ambassador Ernst-Peter Brezovszky, Head of the Ministry’s Department for International Conferences and International Organizations, who has led the Austrian side of the venture.

The new Secretariat will be on the corner of Wipplingerstrasse and Helferstorferstrasse in Vienna’s First District, close to Schottenring and between the old stock exchange and part of the university.

It will have nine floors above ground and a basement, car park and storage facilities below. Its total usable area of about 9,000 square metres will accommodate the Secretariat’s present 138 Staff Members and allow for expansion in the future, as the Organization takes on new assignments to meet upcoming challenges in the international oil market and related areas.

It is being built by a consortium on the site of the former Austrian Association of Trade Unions (Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund), and the architects are Atelier Hayde Architekten from Vienna’s 15th District.

Work began on the project in January 2007 and the handover date is 31 October this year. The move from the existing premises at Obere Donaustrasse 93 in the Second District will take place on 26–28 November, with the first regular day of work on 30 November.

OPEC was founded in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1960, and its Secretariat — its headquarters — was moved from its original location in Geneva, Switzerland, to Vienna on 1 September 1965. In the Austrian capital, it was first housed in two small buildings, before being transferred to Dr Karl Lueger-Ring 10. The move to Obere Donaustrasse took place in March 1977.

OPEC, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2010, has always enjoyed excellent relations with the Federal Republic of Austria and the City of Vienna and looks forward to an enhancement of this in the future.