RIYADH, 19 November 2007 — The 13 leaders of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) unanimously declared here yesterday that they would continue to support the importance of technology to enable the use of “clean oil”, notably carbon capture and storage, to help fight global warming.

“We insist on the importance of clean technologies for the protection of the world’s environment and insist on the importance of developing technologies that can help combat the problem of global warming, such as carbon sequestration,” a statement from the Riyadh final communiqué read by OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah Al-Badri.

Al-Badri said that OPEC countries would continue to work with other governments, international organizations and business communities on investments in the field. The measure, he pointed out, was to ensure continuation of prosperity and development.

The 3rd OPEC Summit was convened yesterday by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah in the King Abdul Aziz Conference Center following a two-day meeting between OPEC leaders and ministers.

The leaders of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates had not attended the final declaration. Both countries were represented by their ministers instead.

OPEC leaders also committed yesterday to provide the world with reliable supplies of oil to stabilize exports and ensure world peace. “We have decided to continue to assure supplies of oil to the market in a way that is sufficient and reliable to meet the needs of the world,” the final communiqué said.

In addition, the leaders highlighted the importance of economic and social prosperity and improving living conditions for OPEC member states.

The final declaration did not mention in any way the organization’s intent to shift the sale of crude oil from US dollar to another currency, despite the steep decline in the prices of its value in the international market. However, leaders stressed yesterday the importance of “solidarity” between exporting countries and importing countries to face “fluctuation” in oil prices worldwide. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal had earlier warned in a closed-door meeting with OPEC foreign ministers prior to the main summit the “dangerous consequences” of even putting the matter of changing the currency into study. In a proposal made by the heads of the delegations of Iran and Venezuela, the minister said that could further weaken the US dollar and also cause problems for OPEC states. The leaders stressed clearly that they will abide by the fundamentals of the organization which were declared in the previous two summits in Algiers and Venezuela.

The OPEC secretary-general said the organization “supported dialogue between producing and exporting oil countries through the International Energy Agency and other international organizations.”

“We would like to stress here that dialogue between OPEC, the European Union, China and Russia has been successful,” he pointed out.

Regarding the protection of environment, OPEC leaders agreed to “close the gaps” in the development sectors and to assure that energy be provided to the world, while maintaining at the same time, the protection of the environment. Saudi Arabia’s initiative to support an international program for the studies on energy, climate change and the protection of the environment is the first among OPEC nations — a reflection of the Kingdom’s strong commitment to protect global environment.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah — who had announced during the opening ceremony that the Kingdom was allocating $300 million to support the establishment of an international program for research on energy and climate change — bid farewell to the leaders at the summit, wishing them prosperity and happiness.

Moments after Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez called on OPEC leaders for the organization to return to what he described as a “geopolitical force” during the opening ceremony, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah reassured the world that oil was “a tool for prosperity.”

The message was later echoed by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal who told the international press that OPEC was not a political organization.

The two-day summit drew nearly 1,000 foreign and Arab journalists who poured in the Saudi capital last week to cover the event. The number, according to organizers, is considered to the largest ever to arrive in the Kingdom to cover an event.