By NNN-WAM,
Abu Dhabi : Energy Minister of the United Arab Emirates Mohammed Bin Dhaen Al-Hamili and executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Nobuo Tanaka held discussions here on ways to further bolster existing relations and cooperation on stabilizing the oil markets, reducing volatility and achieving an oil supply-demand balance.
At the meeting Thursday, discussions also covered UAE-IEA relations and collaboration on oil data and policies, reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and other pollutants resulting from petroleum and natural gas.
In an exclusive statement with WAM, Tanaka said the meeting with the UAE minister was “very good” and constructive and was part of the existing strong cooperation and collaboration.
Tanaka said he highly appreciated the cooperation between IEA on the one hand and the two major oil producers, UAE and Saudi Arabia, on the energy emergency situations.
“I was assured that the UAE will be cooperative on dealing with energy emergency scenarios,” said Tanaka.
The IEA chief, who is in the UAE capital upon concluding a visit to Saudi Arabia where he met on Wednesday with Saudi Oil Minister Al-Naimi and representatives of the state oil company ARAMCO, said his current regional tour will not take in any talks with the region’s other oil producing and exporting countries.
Tanaka said the extremely high current oil prices have to be confronted through more cooperative efforts to boost action and mutual understanding between producers and consumers to hopefully bring about a decline in the market volatility.
Oil prices surged to a series of new highs, with New York crude crossing USD 114 a barrel, raising concerns that supply outages will pressure crude stockpiles.
Tanaka further urged oil producing and exporting countries to make efforts to curb volatility, bring about a supply-demand balance and curb soaring oil prices by at least maintaining their current production levels to allow for the gradual increase in consumers’ stockpile.
Tanaka said his talks with Abdullah Al-Badri, Secretary-General of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in Paris last March were aimed at confirming the strong commitment by the two organisations for active dialogue on energy issues.
The IAE chief stressed that oil-producing and consuming countries have many common interests and concerns.
Such dialogue, he said, helps achieve a broader understanding of the oil market from the consumer’s and the producer’s perspectives.
He added that “there is now stronger balance on the oil scene which came along with declining demand on oil as a result of a slower growth in the world economy.”
IEA’s April oil market report has made the biggest reduction in estimates for growth in world oil demand, the biggest downward revision on demand growth since the Sept 11 attacks, the key to it being, according to IEA, the US’ lower economic growth prospects, which the International Monetary Fund slashed Wednesday to just 0.5 per cent this year, from 1.5 per cent.
The IEA acts as energy policy advisor to 27 member countries in their effort to ensure reliable, affordable and clean energy for their citizens.
Tanaka hailed the UAE’s efforts to break new grounds by using renewable energy on a large scale as well as to preserve the environment through minimising the negative effects of hydrocarbons consumption.
He said the Masdar City which is planned as the world’s greenest and zero-carbon city in the world, is environmentally the ideal city which has to be taken up as a model by other countries, oil-procurers and exporters in particular.
Upon viewing a scale-model of the Masdar City on Thursday, the world’s first zero-carbon and zero-waste, car-free city, Tanaka urged other oil-producing and oil-exporting countries to follow the model of the UAE in searching for solutions to the main pressing issues of energy security, climate change and sustainable human development.