OPEC president, secretary general to attend Paris oil conference on Thursday

PARIS (AFP) Apr 07, 2003
The president and secretary general of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will attend the fourth International Oil Summit in Paris this week and are expected to discuss the situation in Iraq, organisers said on Monday.

OPEC's Qatari president, Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah and secretary general Alvaro Silva Calderon are expected the conference on Thursday, entitled "Oil in 2003: uncertainties and response strategies".

Chakib Khelil, the Algerian energy minister, will also be in attendance, along with French Industry Minister Nicole Fontaine.

"We'll be waiting for their reactions now that the war is under way and the price of oil has fallen well below its level in mid-March," said Pierre Terzian, director of the oil industry magazine Petrostrategies, which is organising the conference.

"Is OPEC already planning to reduce production, or keep it steady? These are the questions which will be asked."

SPACE.WIRE