Your Royal Highness, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome to the beautiful city of Vienna and to the 9th OPEC International Seminar.

Once again, the magnificent and historic Hofburg Palace provides a spectacular setting for a joyous gathering of the OPEC Family, OPEC Friends and high-level dignitaries and representatives from our gracious host country, the Republic of Austria.

The first OPEC Seminar dates back to 1969 and OPEC’s vision for our Seminars is that they are first-rank, high-quality events in the energy calendar; ones that live long in the memory of all attendees.

To fulfil that vision, we have designed a rich programme with high-caliber speakers, stimulating discussions and topics that get to the very heart of the critical issues affecting the energy industry.

Indeed, I can surely say that there is no other event in the international energy calendar that gathers so many high-ranking petroleum and energy ministers, as well as industry leaders under one roof.

Over the course of the next two days, the Seminar’s many highlights include:

• Special introductory remarks by His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy, where we will benefit from His Royal Highness’s global energy leadership to set the scene for the event.
• A unique session on the morning of Day Two, where we will be joined by HE Ambassador André Aranha Corrêa do Lago, Brazil’s President-designate for COP30, and his immediate predecessor, the President of COP29, HE Mukhtar Babayev, Representative of the Republic of Azerbaijan. I can think of no better panel to take stock of COP negotiations and look to their future direction.
• Additionally, there will be three very exciting ministerial sessions and seven diverse and interesting high-level roundtables, with leading industry figures sharing their thoughts and insights on the pressing issues of the day.
• And on Day 2, we will also launch OPEC’s flagship publication, the 2025 edition of the World Oil Outlook.

This will all take place under the official theme of the 9th OPEC International Seminar, ‘Charting pathways together: the future of global energy.’

The question that our Seminar theme seeks to address is how to strike a balance between achieving energy security, enhancing energy access, alleviating energy poverty while reducing emissions. This will be central to all our discussions. 

Your Royal Highness, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Organizing an event on this scale is only possible through teamwork. A few words of thanks are due to those who have made our Seminar the special event that it is.

We are deeply appreciative to His Royal Highness, Their Excellencies, the Ministers from OPEC’s Member Countries and countries participating in the ‘Declaration of Cooperation’ for taking the time out of their busy schedules to attend this event.

Thanks also go to Their Excellencies, the other esteemed Ministers, as well as Ambassadors, dignitaries, the heads of international organizations, the chief executives of national and international oil companies, and all the other speakers, panelists and moderators.

I would also like to thank all our sponsors for their generosity, particularly our Diamond Sponsors:

• Aramco,
• the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation,
• NNPC Limited, and
• Venezuela through the Ministry of the People’s Power of Hydrocarbons and PDVSA;

and our Platinum Sponsors:

• Argus,
• KAPSARC,
• Kpler,
• Libya’s National Oil Corporation,
• Oando,
• OMV, and
• the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

I would also like to thank our many Media Partners for this event. We are extremely grateful for their backing in realizing the vision behind this Seminar.

To our host country, Austria, and the City of Vienna, a big thank you. The year 2025 is a landmark one for us as we celebrate 60 years since OPEC relocated to Vienna.

Last but not least, my thanks also go to my colleagues at the OPEC Secretariat who have worked tirelessly in preparing for this event.

With that, I wish us all a pleasant, fruitful and stimulating Seminar.

Thank you.