The Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stressed today that no country or a group of countries can alone ensure the stability of the oil market. Al-Naimi delivered the following speech at the 13th meeting of Ministers of Petroleum and Energy of International Energy Forum (IEF), which started its works in Kuwait this morning: "Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen. I would like first to extend my sincere gratitude to the State of Kuwait for hosting the 13th International Energy Forum Ministerial meeting. I would also like to express my appreciation to the governments of Algeria and the Netherlands for co-hosting this important gathering. It is a pleasure to be a member of such an esteemed panel of speakers. Ladies and gentlemen, the central theme of this session is how to mitigate volatility in international oil markets. Volatility is bad for the consumer, bad for producers and bad for the sort of long-term planning required in the energy business. Market volatility is not in the interest of anyone present here today. We all know that oil prices traditionally have been more volatile than many other commodity or asset prices. Yet even though market fundamentals are sound, the past decade has witnessed unprecedented movements in oil prices. Today, the oil market is generally balanced, and there is ample production and refining capacity. And as I have noted many times before, Saudi Arabia and others remain poised to make good any shortfalls - perceived or real - in crude oil supply. --MORE
