Joint IEA-IEF-OPEC Technical Workshop on the Security of Energy Flows: Maritime Routes and Market Stability

The International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Energy Forum (IEF) and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) convened key stakeholders and leading industry experts for a virtual technical workshop on the security of energy flows. The workshop focused on maritime routes, shipping, insurance and market stability.

The workshop was held at the request of ministers of the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC), who met in Riyadh on 12 October 2026 following the IEF17 Ministerial. At that meeting, ministers underlined the critical importance of uninterrupted energy flows and expressed concern about elevated shipping and insurance costs. They also noted their wish to continue engaging with the IEF, the IEA and other international partners on these issues.

OPEC Secretary General HE Haitham Al Ghais, IEA Executive Director HE Dr. Fatih Birol and IEF Secretary General HE Eng. Jassim Alshirawi jointly led the workshop. It built on the IEA-IEF-OPEC trilateral programme of work and on shared priorities set out in the IEF17 Ministerial Concluding Statement, including the protection of energy infrastructure and trade routes.

IEF Presentation

Christof van Agt Ross, IEF Director of Energy Dialogue, opened Session I with the IEF's perspective on safe passage as critical energy infrastructure. His presentation covered:

• How exposed global oil and LNG trade is to maritime chokepoints, and how limited the bypass options are
• The strain that successive reroutings place on shipping capacity
• The contribution of higher shipping costs to global inflation
• The growing role of seaborne LNG in gas markets
• The particular vulnerability of import-dependent economies with limited fiscal space