2005 - OPEC

137th Meeting of the OPEC Conference
Vienna, Austria, 20 September 2005
The 137th Meeting of the OPEC Conference convened in Vienna, Austria, on 19 and 20
September 2005, under the Chairmanship of its President, Sheikh Ahmad Fahad Al-Ahmad
Al-Sabah, Minister of Energy of the State of Kuwait and Head of its Delegation, and its Alter-
nate President, Dr Edmund M Daukoru, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources of Nigeria
and Head of its Delegation. The Conference welcomed Seyed Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh, Acting
Minister of Petroleum of the IR Iran, and paid tribute to the outstanding contribution made
to the Organization by the former Iranian Minister of Petroleum, Bijan Namdar Zangeneh.
The Conference extended its condolences to the Government and people of the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia on the sad death of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Fahd Bin
Abdulaziz Al-Saud.
The Conference also extended its sincere condolences and sympathy to the government and
the people of Iraq on the recent, tragic incidents that have led to such loss of life and ex-
pressed its hope that Iraq will be spared further violence in the future. The Conference also
repeated its condolences to the people and government of the United States of America fol-
lowing the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina in late August and noted, with satisfac-
tion, that humanitarian aid and pledges of fuel supplies by MCs had contributed to relieving
the situation in affected regions. The Conference warmly welcomed the Minister of Petroleum
of Angola, the Minister of Energy & Mining of Sudan, the Minister of Petroleum & Mineral
Resources of Syria, the Vice Minister of Industry & Energy of the Russian Federation, the First
Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum of Egypt, the Under-Secretary for Hydrocarbons
of Mexico and the Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman, and recorded the importance it
accords to continued dialogue and consultations with fellow oil-producing nations in achieving
stability in the oil market.
The Conference considered the Secretary General’s report, the report of the ECB, the report of
the MMSC, chaired by Vaziri Hamaneh, Head of the Delegation of the IR Iran, whose Members
the Conference again thanked for their continued efforts on the Organization’s behalf, and
various administrative matters. Having reviewed the current oil market, the Conference noted
that action taken by OPEC MCs to increase production over the preceding quarters – OPEC
production being currently estimated at 30.2 mb/d (excluding Iraq 28.3 mb/d) – has led to a
build-up in inventory levels, especially of crude, which now stand well above their five-year
average, sufficient to ease concerns in the market about potential supply disruptions, such
as those witnessed following Hurricane Katrina. The Conference further noted that MCs are
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