International Energy Forum (IEF)

In his address to the 7th International Energy Forum in Riyadh in November 2000, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia at that time, currently the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah ibn Abdulaziz, proposed the establishment of a permanent Secretariat to support and enhance the producer-consumer dialogue in the IEF, and offered Saudi Arabia to be the host country for this new international body.

The IEF Secretariat was established with the announcement from the 8th IEF in September2002 in Osaka, Japan based on the Mission and General Framework document. An Executive Board, in which the affairs of the Secretariat are vested, was formed consisting of thirteen IEF participating countries as well as the secretariats of the lEA and OPEC. The multi-national staff of the Secretariat started its work in December 2003, funded on the basis of annual voluntary contributions from participating countries.

The objectives of the Secretariat are:

To foster the concept of interdependency by presenting the opportunity and creating the atmosphere for dialogue between oil and gas producing countries, as well as dialogue between governments and energy related industries;
To provide platforms to promote the study and exchange of views of the inter-relationship between energy, technology, environmental issues, economic growth and development; and
To promote the role of stable and transparent energy markets for the health of the world economy, security of supply and demand, the expansion of global trade and investment in energy resources and technology.

The operational responsibilities of the Secretariat are:

To provide advisory, operational and logistic services to the host country of the biennial IEF to ensure wide and high-level participation and in-depth dialogue;
To organize seminars, exhibitions and roundtable discussions on relevant international or regional issues, for the purpose of continuing and enhancing contacts and dialogue; and
To facilitate and enhance the exchange of oil and gas data and information among producing and consuming countries and organizations with the special task of co-ordinating the Joint Oil Data Initiative.

The inauguration by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah of the new purpose-built IEF Secretariat Headquarter office building, generously provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, enhances the importance and visibility of the International Energy Forum and Riyadh as a focal point for the global energy dialogue endeavour.

[ Visit www.ief.org ]