2005 - OPEC

EU-OPEC Energy Dialogue
In line with the decision of the 133rd Meeting of the OPEC Conference, to foster Euro-
pean Union (EU)-OPEC Energy Dialogue at the level of the OPEC President and the Minister of
Energy for the EU nations, both high-level Ministerial Meetings and joint roundtables between
both organizations took place in 2005.
In June and December, high-level Ministerial Meetings took place in Brussels and Vienna,
respectively. Participants at the 1st Ministerial Meeting in June highlighted the importance of
an effective framework to enable an exchange of views on energy issues of common inter-
est, including oil market developments, and the potential this has for contributing to stability,
transparency and predictability in the international oil market.
It also noted that extreme prices in either direction, over a sustained period, could create
problems for both producers and consumers. The EU and OPEC shared the view that all parties
should pursue efforts aimed at achieving greater market stability, with prices that are fair and
reasonable to producers and consumers alike. These should be consistent with the need for
healthy global economic growth and provide steady revenue streams for producing countries
that are conducive to the expansion of upstream and downstream capacity to meet rising in-
ternational demand for oil. The meeting emphasised that many factors have the potential to
contribute to oil market instability over the short-, medium- and long-term. With this in mind,
the importance of greater data transparency and an enhanced exchange of views on trends
in supply and demand, future policies and their implications, technology developments and
other energy-related issues were underlined.
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