RIYADH, Nov 18: Global energy leaders are in Riyadh to discuss ways and means to satiate the global crude thirst. The meeting is being held to mark the formal inauguration of the International Energy Forum Secretariat in Riyadh on Saturday evening.

Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz will inaugurate the permanent headquarters of the International Energy Forum in Riyadh in the presence of more than 20 oil and energy ministers, including those from the UAE, Germany, Iran, Italy, the UK, Bahrain, Iraq, France, Qatar, Kuwait, Norway, Mexico and the US.

The opening ceremony will be followed by a seminar in which ministers and global oil company chairmen will discuss important issues and look into drawing a roadmap of the future for oil industries, said Ali Al Nuaimi, Saudi Oil Minister.

The seminar will also discuss issues regarding ongoing and future oil projects and building new refineries — the reasons behind price rises and the importance of global oil market settlement. Mr Nuaimi said the forum’s general secretariat would continue to support communication between producing and consuming countries.

The seminar will also examine issues that reflect on the settlement and growth of the world economy, difficulties facing oil industries front and final, and tax impact on the prices of petrol in consuming companies, when bought by the final consumer.

US Energy Secretary Sam Bodman, Mani Shankar Aiyer of India, the British and French finance ministers and several Opec ministers are also among those taking part in the moot.

“They are meeting at a time when oil prices and energy security are at the top of the international agenda,” said Arne Walther, secretary-general of the International Energy Forum (IEF) whose Riyadh headquarters opens on Saturday.

Though oil prices have slipped in the recent weeks yet, on average this year oil has cost 36 per cent more than the last year.

Supplying the energy for future economic growth is going to require massive investment. Global supply needs to rise to meet demand of around 115 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2030 from around 82m bpd last year, according to the International Energy Agency, adviser to 26 industrialized nations.

The bulk of that increase in output will come from North African and Middle Eastern producers, which sit on most of the world’s untapped oil reserves. But even some of the richer countries in those regions will struggle to finance such expansion themselves, and they often restrict foreign investment.

Norway’s energy minister and top executives from France’s Total, US firms ConocoPhillips and Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, Japan’s Nippon Oil Corp and Britain’s BP are also attending the meeting.