São Paulo – Next Monday (25th), the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Energy Forum (IEF) and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) are going to hold a symposium on the world energy market outlook in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
According to information supplied by the organizers, the meeting is part of a wider program that was passed by ministers of energy at the last IEF, in Cancun, Mexico, in March last year. The Forum is comprised of ministers from various countries. Brazil will be represented at the symposium by the Non-Renewable Energy Resources Division of the Brazilian Foreign Office (Itamaraty).
The aim of the event is to discuss the outlook for the world energy market in the short, medium and long terms. There are discrepancies between forecasts made by the IEA, which represents the major consumers of the industry, and the Opec.
Last week, however, the two organizations agreed that the demand for oil in 2011 will be higher than previously expected. The IEA has revised its global consumption forecast upward by 320,000 barrels per day, whereas the Opec has raised its forecast of the demand for oil produced by its member countries by 200,000 barrels per day.
This however does not imply that the increased supply that consumer countries want will be matched by the suppliers. The Opec admits, however, that the current price of the barrel of oil, at nearly US$ 100, may harm the recovery of the world economy. However, the Opec informs that the price hike is more influenced by speculation than by a mismatch between supply and demand.
The volume of oil exported by the Opec member countries has already gone up, even though the last production volume limit, set in December, has not been changed. The IEA claims that raising the formal limit would be an important signal in order to control oil prices.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
