Meeting of the OPEC-Russia Energy Dialogue

HE Alexander Novak, Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation and HE Abdalla Salem El-Badri, OPEC Secretary General, held a high-level meeting in Moscow on October 28 as part of the ongoing OPEC-Russia Energy Dialogue. The meeting was also attended by a delegation from the Russian Federation and officials from the OPEC Secretariat.

As a prelude to this meeting, experts from both the Russian Federation and OPEC made presentations on various energy and oil-related topics that offered up an insightful exchange of views and fruitful technical discussions. This then provided inputs to the high-level meeting.

Participants at the experts meeting discussed short-term oil market developments and prospects, with much focus on the global economic situation, world oil supply and demand levels and stock movements. There were also presentations made on the medium- to long-term upstream and downstream oil outlooks, including the associated uncertainties, challenges and opportunities.

In addition, the experts discussed the status and recent developments of shale gas and tight oil. This included such issues as their contribution to the global energy mix, their investment costs, the decline rates for wells and their long-term sustainability, the differences in regulations and policies in various countries, as well as the environmental impacts of extracting these resources.

The meeting follows on from the successful high-level meeting of the OPEC-Russia Energy Dialogue that took place at the OPEC Secretariat in Vienna, Austria, in September 2012. HE Novak and HE El-Badri also held a meeting in early July 2013, when the Russian Federation hosted the 2nd Gas Summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum.

The Parties agreed to continue their collaborative efforts and to have their next high-level meeting in Vienna in the second half of 2014.