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His Excellency Dr. Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza, Minister of State, Chairman of the National Oil & Gas Authority (NOGA), participated in the official inauguration of the head quarters of the International Energy Forum Secretariat (IEFS), which was held under the auspices of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdulla Ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia. The ceremony which was held on 19th November 2005 was attended by a number of petroleum and energy ministers in the principal oil producing and consumer countries, as well as by the executive directors of major international petroleum companies.

His Excellency the Minister also participated in the seminar which was organized on the occasion of the inauguration and in which a number of petroleum and energy ministers and executive directors of petroleum companies discussed several petroleum topics, including global economy and the oil market and industry, as well as technology and information and oil market stability. During his presence in Riyadh, Dr. Mirza took the opportunity to meet a number of the petroleum and energy ministers who attended the event and discussed bilateral petroleum matters.

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL ENERGY FORUM (IEF)

¯ IEF was established in 1991 during a gathering held in Paris in the same year.
¯ Several IEF meetings were convened in different parts of the world. The 7th Forum was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in November 2000, at which the then Saudi Crown Prince, Prince Abdulla bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, launched His Royal Highness’s initiative of establishing a permanent Secretariat for the IEF. Riyadh was selected as the centre of the Secretariat.
¯ The State of Qatar will host the 10th Forum in 2006, to become the second Arab country, after Saudi Arabia, to host this event. The forum is held biennially alternatively in a producing and consuming country.

Objectives of the Forum:

¯ To present the opportunity for higher level ministerial dialogues among oil and gas producing and consuming countries.
¯ To promote better understanding of important international energy issues.
¯ To strengthen the concept of partnership among energy producers and consumers.
¯ To consider the inter-relationship between energy, environment and economic growth.

All GCC countries are members of the IEF. Bahrain’s participation in the forum activities started at the 7th IEF Forum in Riyadh. The Kingdom’s delegation was headed by His Highness Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO). Bahrain also participated in the subsequent forums in Osaka, Japan, in 2002, and in Amsterdam in 2004.

Special features about IEF:

¯ Resolutions are passed unanimously.
¯ The forum is not a platform for discussing prices, production shares or rise or reduction in the production quantities.
¯ In addition to countries, the IEF membership includes international organizations, petroleum companies and energy corporations.
¯ Membership of the IEF is open and any country can participate depending on the fulfillment of the membership conditions, i.e. either a producer or a consumer country. This condition is applicable to almost all countries of the world.

Energy Forum Secretariat:

¯ The Statute of the International Energy Forum Secretariat (IEFS) was approved by the producing and consuming countries which participated in the 8th IEF which was held in Japan in September 2002, and was then known as Osaka Declaration.
¯ The IEFS aims at establishing a comprehensive and accurate database for information, studies and research on all energy-related matters, and at improving oil and gas data processes and promoting global producer-consumer dialogue on energy.
¯ The IEFS will act through co-operation and dialogue to ensure stability of the energy markets and to create a healthy climate for international economy growth that is not disadvantageous to the producing and consuming countries, especially to those developing states. The IEFS will also endeavour to provide platforms for enhancing co-operation and dialogue for the benefit of oil and gas producing and consuming countries, as well as of the global economy.
¯ Since its inception, the IEFS has organized and participated in several international energy-related meetings.
¯ The Government of Saudi Arabia had granted the IEFS a plot of land at the Diplomatic District in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, for constructing the head office of the IEFS. The construction cost of US$ 4 million was fully paid by the Saudi Government.

General Secretarial

All member countries contribute unequally to the G. Secretarial budget. The highest annual contribution of US$ 417,000 comes from the United States of America. The GCC countries contribute as follows:

- Kingdom of Saudi Arabia                  US$ 207,000
- United Arab Emirates                       US$ 69,000
- State of Kuwait                               US$ 52,000
- Sultanate of Oman                          US$ 33,000
- State of Qatar                                US$ 26,000
- Kingdom of Bahrain                        US$ 15,000