Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz left

Caracas yesterday after a state visit to Venezuela, during which he participated in the two-day Second

Summit of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). At its conclusion yesterday it issued

the 'Caracas Declaration', which reiterated the sovereignty of its member states concerning their natural

resources, stating that petroleum, as a major energy source in the last century, had contributed positively

to the accomplishment of economic, social, technological and scientific achievements.

[The full text of 'The Caracas Declaration' appears on the official OPEC web site www.opecsummit.org]

The 'Caracas Declaration' went on to confirm OPEC's concern to enhance the role of petroleum in meeting

future international demands for energy. It underscored the importance of protecting the interests of its

member states through adoption of suitable strategies and policies, while assuring provision of ample and

secured oil supplies for consumers at suitable times and for suitable and stable prices.
Underlining the importance of prices for oil that are competitive with those of other energy sources, the

Declaration called for development of OPEC's skills to enable it to keep up with new developments such as

the phenomenon of globalization. It also stressed the importance of cooperation among the OPEC

members' national oil companies as well as between these companies and the international petroleum

industry.
In order to realize stabilization of the oil market, the Declaration also urged cooperation between OPEC

and the other oil-exporting countries, and called for effective channels for dialogue between oil producers

and oil consumers. In this respect, much is hoped from the Seventh Energy Forum, due to be held in

Riyadh on November 17-19, 2000.
Concerning protection of the environment, the statement underlined the importance of OPEC's contribution

in ensuring that oil and gas are used rather than other sources of energy that are known to have adverse

impact on the global environment.
The Declaration reiterated that OPEC will go ahead in its efforts to accelerate economic development in the

developing countries through its aid programs, the International OPEC Development Fund and the

International Fund for Agricultural Development. It urged the industrial countries to make a positive

contribution to these efforts by reducing the debts of these countries, since poverty constitutes a major

environmental phenomenon.
The Declaration noted that the taxes imposed by consuming countries on petroleum products are to a

great extent responsible for the high prices that are paid by the consumer, and urged these countries to

revise their policy in this respect.
The statement urged OPEC member states to diversify their economies, and requested the industrial

countries and the international organizations concerned to cooperate in realizing this goal. It went on to

recommend enhancing ties among the research centers in the OPEC member states so as to boost

research, asking that the possibility of establishing a common research institute or university be

considered. In addition, it called on the finance ministers of the OPEC member states to explore ways  of

cementing financial cooperation among them.
Finally, the Declaration called for a summit of heads of state of OPEC members at regular intervals to be

agreed on amongst them, in order to increase the capabilities of the oil cartel.

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