Al-Naimi urges Arab states to boost energy cooperation

JEDDAH: Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Al-Naimi called for joint action among fellow Arab energy producers to increase trade, investments and partnerships.
“The challenge which we are facing in the Arab world is representing our need for more joint action in the field of the oil and energy, and try to have more trade partnerships in between the states,” Al-Naimi said at conference on Bahrain.
The minister delivered the speech at the seminar on ‘Future of Energy in the Middle East and North Africa’ in Manama.
The seminar was organized by organized Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP).
Following is the text of the speech:
I would like, at the outset, to thank the government of Bahrain and Energy Minister Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza for the warm reception and gracious hospitality.
I would also like to thank Abid bin Abdullah Al-Saadoun, chairman of the board ofdirectors of the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), for inviting me to participate in APICORP’s annual seminar that tackles several topics of particular importance, including the future of energy in the Arab world.
With its huge discovered and undiscovered reserves, the Arab world is a major player in global oil production and consumption.
Arab countries need to invest in the various stages of the oil industry, especially since these countries, whether oil-producing or non-oil-producing, are all in need of energy sources to fuel the continued economic growth and provide the basic needs of life.
The Arab world consumes about nine million barrels of oil per day, almost 10 percent of the total global consumption.
At a time when some Arab countries are experiencing political unrest, joint Arab action in economic fields, particularly in the field of oil, assumes much greater importance, since the Arab world has more than 56 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves and more than 27 percent of the world’s natural gas reserves. These reserves are expected to rise over the coming years with new discoveries and improved technologies that help increase recoverable oil volumes.
As you know, the economies of all Arab countries, including nonoil-producing countries, are closely interconnected in various areas such as trade, investment, tourism, and the movement of labor, which means that these economies are correlated to oil and gas production and price levels.
This correlation is expected to continue for several decades, bringing into focus the importance of the development, as well as the vertical and horizontal expansion, of the oil industry, including the continuation of new oil discoveries.
This requires the development of appropriate financing solutions that would maintain and raise the level of production and increase oil reserves.
The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP) was established in the early 1970s to support the financing solution system backing the development of the Arab energy sector.
As an Arab entity that supports this vital sector, APICORP started operation in 1975 by providing various financing solutions to the sector’s investors.
As you know, energy sources, most notably oil and gas, are among the fundamentals of modern global economy.
In addition to their various uses as a source of energy, oil and gas are also used as feedstock for the manufacturing of hundreds of essential and luxury end-products that are part of modern life.
They provide, on the one hand, energy for transportation, refrigeration, heating, power generation, agriculture, industry, and many other areas; and are used, on the other hand, as feedstock for intermediate and downstream industries, such as clothing, cars, and even food.
The world economy, including oil and energy economies, has been shaky and sluggish over the past year and this year. However, demand for oil and energy continues to rise year after year, with annual demand growth expected to average above 1 million barrels per day during this decade.
Productivity of oilfields around the world declines naturally at a rate of four million barrels per day, which means that the oil industry needs to add new capacity of about five million barrels per day each year to compensate for the natural decline and meet the growing global demand.
This capacity increase requires substantial and continued funding both at the international level and in the Arab region.
To meet this growing need for funding, we have to continue, and even increase, investment in the oil industry to ensure market stability in the short and long term. However, this investment must include all the stages of production, processing, transportation, refining, distribution, and sale of end-products; and environmental conservation must be taken into account in all these stages.
Energy projects, in general, and oil projects, in particular, need substantial capital and; thus, require investors in them to look for the best possible funding solutions; including; most importantly, self-generated funds from companies’ savings, commercial banks, bond issue, and global and local industrial and development funds; as well as international state-owned development banks that are based on clear developmental objectives; such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the company we are today celebrating its 40th year of existence; the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), which is considered a successful model of Arab initiatives that aim at strengthening trade relations between Arab countries, contribute to the support given to them and develop and help them make use of their important natural resources.
During the last 40 years, APICORP actively served the Arab energy sector by funding and equity financing a large number of distinctive energy projects, especially the Arab joint ventures of OAPEC member states, in addition to the provision of financial advisory services and energy research, and the active participation in, and full support of, the energy value chain.
The fact that the funding needed for energy projects in the Middle East is estimated at $700 billion over the next 10 years shows how important it is to provide adequate funding for such projects.
At this point, would like to commend the work method adopted by APICORP since its establishment. Although this great company was established to pursue development objectives, as pointed out earlier, APICORP’s work was built on commercial bases without overlooking those development objectives.
Adopting this approach was, then, a main enabler for the company to achieve its strong financial position as clearly reflected in the volume of its operations and its geographical area of operation.
It is also important to note the role played by APICORP in giving priority to successful and developing joint Arab projects, and energy projects that adopt advanced technology and to the training and development of Arab talents and doing everything that will enable it to play an important and influential role in the future of the Arab energy industry.
In terms of financial results, the company’ss assets grew from $2.1 to 5.88 billion dollars, at a 180 percent growth rate, over the past 10 years.
APICORP continues to pursue a number of initiatives.
Last year, for example, in a $500 million dollar acquisition, APICORP acquired a 28.3 percent stake in the National Petroleum Services Company (NAPESCO), one of the largest oil and gas field service companies in the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia.
APICORP also initiated a deal in the power sector with ACWA Power, a leading power generation and water desalination company in the Middle East.
In the field of funding, APICORP plays an important role in supporting the various operations of oil companies and their related activities.
Last year, the company entered into three funding agreements with Maaden Phosphate Company and Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Company (Petro Rabigh) in Saudi Arabia, and Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company in Oman.
APICORP also focuses on medium term funding and reducing reliance on short-term funding.
I would like to point out the important future role assigned to our countries and companies in the development of the energy sector and the oil industry in the Arab region.
This development requires billions of dollars for funding new discoveries, sustaining and seeking to increase the current production level, maintaining excess production capacity in order to stabilize the market,
in addition to supplying funds for downstream projects, the creation of added value, and the development of human resources through education, training and qualification of Arab youth.
Perhaps it would be fitting here to mention the role of Saudi Arabia in the stability of the oil market, and its continued willingness and prompt, assiduous efforts to cooperate with all oil producing and exporting countries, both from within and outside OPEC, in order to maintain market and price stability.
Saudi Arabia remains a highly reliable and major oil exporter, and it invests domestically in all the stages of the oil industry, in the fields of exploration, production, and refining; and internationally in the areas of transportation, storage, and downstream activities such as refining, distribution, and manufacturing.