President El Sisi, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Sixty-five years ago, between 16 and 23 April 1959, an event took place in Cairo that would change the course of the history of the oil industry. On the margins of the first Arab Petroleum Congress, representatives from five developing countries, namely, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, met and agreed on what was known as the ‘Maadi Pact.’ This began the process that would lead to the foundation of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Baghdad.

Six and a half decades later, it gives me pride to return to this great city and thank the Egyptian authorities for their contributions to making OPEC-Egypt relations a resounding success.

I would like to thank His Excellency Abdel Fattah El Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt. I commend the President for his considerable contributions to our industry, including his patronage of this event. We thank him for his support of OPEC.

I thank His Excellency Tarek El Molla, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, and the Ministry for supporting EGYPS and making it a leading event on the global energy calendar. We are very grateful that the Minister has been a very good friend to OPEC over the years.

OPEC and Egypt’s relationship extends far beyond the Maadi Pact. Egypt was also a pioneer non-OPEC producer in terms of its cooperation with OPEC.  The country has shown foresight in reaching out to others.  Egypt was one of the first observers to the OPEC Conference back in 1984; it contributed to oil market stabilization efforts in the late 1980s; and, Cairo hosted the 133rd (Extraordinary) Meeting of the Conference on the 10th of December 2004.

Since 2016, throughout the ‘Declaration of Cooperation’ process, whereby OPEC has worked in tandem with 10 non-OPEC oil producing countries to take collective action to help stabilize the market, Egypt has issued declaratory statements of support for this enterprise.

Mr President, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The theme of this event is "Driving Energy Transition, Security, and Decarbonisation." This is timely as global events of the last few years have underscored how important the issue of energy security is. Finding the right balance between policies that reduce emissions while ensure energy remains accessible is on ongoing challenge, that requires careful calibration.

It was for this reason that the ‘Global Stocktake’ from COP28 in Dubai called for a transition that was “just, orderly and equitable.”

The complexity of the challenge means that is no ‘one-size fits all’ solution to climate change; there are legitimate political trade-offs that need to be considered. This includes meeting Goal 7 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Agenda, namely, ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. We should never forget the 675 million people worldwide without access to electricity or the 2.3 billion who are still cooking with unsafe and polluting fuels.

A key enabler for energy security is ensuring adequate investments in the oil industry across all timeframes. Investment requirements in oil industry amount to $14 trillion between now and 2045. Oil market stability is a prerequisite for attracting such levels of investment. This has been a motivation behind OPEC’s actions, along with 10 non-OPEC producing countries, under the umbrella of the ‘Declaration of Cooperation.’

I would like to conclude by emphasising one other factor that is crucial for an orderly energy transition: dialogue. At OPEC, we have an open door policy, a host of bilateral and multilateral dialogues, and we do not dismiss any possible options in addressing climate change. We engage with all options.

This spirit of dialogue and openness is clearly on display here at Egypt Energy Show. With this, I wish all of us a successful Show.

Thank you.