The price of crude oil will not be on the agenda at the OPEC summit next week in Venezuela, the cartel's president said Wednesday.
OPEC's current president, Venezuelan Energy Minister Ali Rodriguez, said the the unusual gathering of leaders of the OPEC nations will look at broader issues and principles for the 11-member cartel.
"The price of a barrel (of oil) is not on the agenda for the Caracas meeting because its objective is to adapt the principles of OPEC to the new global reality," he said.
Rodriguez said the September 27-28 gathering -- only the second meeting of the cartel attended by heads of state -- would redefine "its principles and establish a base for future actions."
OPEC officials will examine market conditions and prices at meeting set for November 12 in Vienna and November 17 in Riyadh, which will include producing and consuming nations, Rodriguez said.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will open the summit, together with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria. The previous summit of cartel leaders was held in Algiers in 1975. Since then, all OPEC meetings have been attended by energy ministers.
Saudi Arabia's King Fahd is not expected to attend, due to his advanced age, and Iraq's President Saddam Hussein and Libya's President Moamer Kadhafi are not expected because of security reasons.
But Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz is set to attend, along with leaders from Qatar, Iraq, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Libya, Nigeria, Algeria, Indonesia, and Kuwait.Venezuela is the only Latin American member of the Oganization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.—AFP.
©--Agence France Presse.
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
