MUSCAT, Oct 26: Gulf oil producers vowed on Saturday to safeguard world supplies and protect their own regional markets, offering comfort to consumers fearful that a US assault on Iraq could disrupt Middle East exports.

Saudi Arabia’s Ali al-Naimi said he and his five colleagues from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) had pledged to “protect worldwide supplies, guarantee market stability and preserve stable oil prices...at a fair level for producers and consumers” at a brief meeting in Muscat.

“It is our duty as exporting nations to guarantee and make efficient the trustworthiness of oil exports in the region...this is the most important thing,” Naimi, OPEC’s most influential oil minister, said of the GCC producers, which supply about a quarter of the world’s traded oil.

The GCC economic, political and security alliance includes three other nations that are members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries — the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar.

Oman, a small independent oil producer, and Bahrain complete the group which has no power to set output policy, but can make recommendations to OPEC.

“Given the size of its reserves and developing production capacity, they (the GCC) have a duty to safeguard the interests of producers and consumers alike,” said Mohammed Obaid al-Mazroui, GCC Assistant Secretary General for Economic Affairs, said in his opening remarks.

The GCC oil ministers also updated and finalised a regional emergency oil plan that aims to protect member countries from any product shortfalls.

The scheme, long under discussion, will be submitted for ratification at the GCC heads-of-state summit set for Qatar in December, said Naimi.

The strategy is “to protect member states in the event of any type of emergency, including natural disasters and not necessarily as a result of war or aggression,” he said.

“If there is a shortage in supply or oil product in one GCC member, then other members will have this plan at their readiness to meet the shortfall...Supplying primary fuels for GCC needs will take precedence over (other matters).”

Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah said the emergency scheme had been in train for many years.

“This plan has been in place since the GCC was set up 20 years ago in order to meet any shortfall and deal with any type of emergency for example a refinery fire in Qatar or Kuwait,” said Attiyah.

The Qatari minister insisted that the strategic waters of the oil-rich Gulf are secure, despite what Yemen called a “terrorist” attack earlier this month on the French supertanker Limburg in the Gulf of Aden.

“All GCC members are committed to securing their territories and waterways,” said Attiyah. “The Gulf area is safe...there has never been a threat to security of oil.”

—Reuters