The decision to establish an IEF Secretariat dates back to the 8th IEF Ministerial in Osaka, Japan. Following this, the Netherlands acted as host to the 9th IEF Ministerial and has chaired the Executive Board. The Dutch government highly values the IEF and its Secretariat and would like to thank the government of Saudi Arabia for hosting it in such a magnificent location.

Energy is vital to all of us. We can only safeguard security of supply and demand by working together. Cooperation and joint action is key. We have to find ways and means to avoid conflicts and solve disputes in a constructive way.

Countries have to create the right conditions, but companies are the real agents of energy security. NOCs and IOCs are open to cooperation. So let us create the possibilities for them to cooperate and enable them to realise synergies.

In recent years the wish to improve the quality of data resulted in the Joint Oil Data Initiative, which is now coordinated by the IEF Secretariat and its partners APEC, Eurostat, IEA, OLADE, OPEC and UNSD. A lot of work has already been done, though more remains.

Transparency will increase by further improving JODI and extending it to include the gas market also. And finally, we should inform each other about investments that will affect future capacity. This will provide more confidence for capacity growth in future, thus promoting stability. I think the IEF Secretariat has a lot to contribute in this area.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has shown responsible leadership in taking up the initiative to organise last June’s Jeddah Energy Meeting.

The Jeddah process strengthened the dialogue between producers and consumers. More importantly it was a step towards concrete action on investments, shared oil market analysis and transparency. And action on these issues we need.

I am happy to see that the IEF Secretariat has played an increasingly prominent role in the recent debate. Its role was downright pivotal in preparing for the Jeddah Energy Meeting. We are all looking forward to the follow-up meeting in London this coming December.

Climate change is one of the major global issues of our time. Environmental problems have already given incentives to improve energy efficiency and have led to the present boom in investment in renewables.

But to be clear: fossil fuels will remain the backbone of the energy system for decades to come. So we have to prepare ourselves for a cleaner production and use of fossil fuels.

I would certainly welcome the establishment of a CCS-group within the framework of the IEF as suggested by the Ministers of UK and Norway. For my part, focus should be on the way in which CCS is part of an overall energy agenda and sustainable energy policy. Again, good international cooperation is essential given other work done. Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands organised a conference last June, a further plan of action is already being elaborated and both countries and the UK and Norway see themselves as frontrunners in the implementation of this action plan.

In summary - we need to extend present cooperation as we already see between our countries, between

NOCs and IOCs and for example on the issue of CCS. New alliances already are opening new horizons, create business opportunities and bring us closer to our goal: a cleaner, smarter and more varied energy system.

I consider it worthwhile to continue the close cooperation between OPEC, IEA and the IEF Secretariat as well. This combines the best available expertise on oil.

I am sure that the IEF Secretariat has an important role to play in all of these fields of endeavour. It already has played a major role in the discussions in Jeddah and its follow-up.

The full speech is available on the IEF Secretariat’s website.