Oil ministers from 12 OPEC members along with chief executives of major producers have gathered in Rome for the 11th International Energy Forum amid political calls to increase production. The three day conference starting Sunday April 20th will focus on access to energy resources, the security of supplies, issues of investment and development of renewable sources of energy. However OPEC Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri said on Saturday that he did not think OPEC ministers will meet together when they attend the IEF.
OPEC's President Chakib Khelil has said that any increase in production now will not have an impact on prices because there is a balance between supply and demand.High prices are result of an economic crisis in the US and the decline in the value of the US dollar he added.The producer group has about two million bpd of spare production capacity, mainly in Saudi Arabia.
International oil companies are trying to gain access to new energy resources.This comes against a backdrop of resource holding nations, led by Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, trying to maximize the returns from their energy resources. Presently international oil companies account for about 24% of world oil and 35% of gas production. This is down from about 80% in the 1970's. Today they control about 6% of world oil and 20% of gas reserves, down from nearly 75% earlier. Although this situation is unlikely to change, state oil companies still need them for their pool of skilled staff as well as sophisticated technology which is required to develop more difficult fields.