Jun 2008 - OPEC

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OPEC bulletin 6/08
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OPEC Secretary General
visits Venezuela,
Ecuador
PDVSA
In continuation of his working visits to Member
Countries, OPEC Secretary General, Abdalla Salem
El-Badri, was in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the
Republic of Ecuador last month (May 18–25). In Venezuela,
El-Badri met with President Hugo Chavez Frías, while later, in
Ecuador, he held talks with President Rafael Correa.
By Omar Farouk Ibrahim
El-Badri’s meeting with President Chavez in Venezuela
covered a number of topics, including the current oil
market situation and the positive relationship between
Venezuela and the OPEC Secretariat. It also served as a
follow-up on some of the issues contained in the three
Declarations of the OPEC Summits of Heads of State and
Government, which were adopted in Algiers in 1975,
Caracas in 2000, and Riyadh in 2007.
Receiving the Secretary General and his delegation
at his residence, President Chávez commended El-Badri
for his contribution to the development of OPEC — from
his days as Libya’s Oil Secretary to his current position
as Secretary General. He reiterated the need for greater
cooperation among OPEC Member Countries in other areas
like technology, industry, and finance, emphasizing that
“our Member Countries need to go beyond bilateral cooperation
to a multilateral framework on these issues.’’ The
President advised the Secretary General to work to ensure
that the decisions contained in the Summit Declarations
were implemented, while, at the same time, assuring him
of the continuous support of Venezuela to OPEC.
In his response, El-Badri said that Venezuela, one of
the five founding Members of OPEC, has been very sup-