RIYADH, 16 November 2006 — A major oil data initiative, which was publicly launched by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah last year, will top the agenda of a high-profile energy conference to be inaugurated by Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi here on Nov. 25. More than 100 top officials and top-notch energy experts from over 35 countries around the globe will attend the event.
Addressing a press conference at the International Energy Forum Secretariat (IEFS) here yesterday, Ambassador Arne Walther, IEFS secretary general, said that the so-called International Joint Oil Data Initiative (JODI) Conference would take stock of the progress made by the JODI so far, and identify areas of improvement. Al-Naimi will also be the keynote speaker at the conference.
Said Nachet, energy director at the IEFS, and Bruno Castellano, JODI analyst, attended the press briefing. Castellano made a visual presentation about JODI. The IEFS was encouraged by the support to JODI given by G-8 heads of governments in the St. Petersburg Plan of Action on Global Energy Security adopted in July 2006. JODI is receiving more attention also after IEFS ministers reaffirmed their support to JODI at the Doha ministerial meeting early this year.
Referring to the JODI conference, Walther said that, “the event has greater significance because JODI contributes to the better predictability, which in turn can encourage the investment decisions that are crucial to overall energy security.”
