OPEC Secretary General Meets EIA, IADB Officials

OPEC Secretary General, HE Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, met with the Administrator of the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA), Adam Sieminski, and other senior staff members, over a working breakfast on 14 December.

The Secretary General briefed Mr. Sieminski and his team on the two recent OPEC Meetings, concluded on 30 November and 10 December, which culminated in the historic ‘Vienna Agreement’.  He noted that extensive bilateral consultations had taken place in the lead-up to the Agreement, which was the first of its kind in decades.

In his comments, Mr. Sieminski, who has been Administrator of the EIA since June 2012, expressed appreciation for OPEC’s initiative to visit institutions and organizations in the United States, including the EIA.  Members of his staff then delivered a presentation based on the EIA’s oil outlook reports, which focus on various aspects of the market, and considered supply and demand factors for 2017.

The EIA presentation was followed by a technical discussion among analysts from both organizations.  The discussions were detailed and candid, and they underscored the value of having such interactions on a regular basis.  In closing, both parties expressed a desire to continue such meetings and expand the number of technical visits.

The OPEC delegation later visited the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), which is also based in Washington.   They met there with staff from the IADB’s energy division.  The OPEC team delivered a presentation on the OPEC World Oil Outlook 2016, which was followed by a question and answer session.

The visit to the EIA and the IADB are part of a week-long visit to the United States by the Secretary General and accompanying OPEC officials.

Earlier in the week, the Secretary General and accompanying OPEC officials met with representatives and executives from IHS Markit (MRKT), the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.