United Arab Emirates: All Ready for OPEC+ Ministerial Conference

Following the success of the Verona Eurasian Economic Forum, the United Arab Emirates has a busy international agenda ahead of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Ministerial Conference. The first to arrive in Abu Dhabi was Delcy Rodriguez, Venezuela’s vice president and oil minister.

Immediately after her arrival, Rodriguez was received by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (pictured), President of the United Arab Emirates, with whom she discussed bilateral relations and common development goals. “Venezuela and the United Arab Emirates share a common history and share OPEC and OPEC+ spaces where they have achieved stability and protection of the global energy market,” Rodriguez said after the summit.

The OPEC conference will focus on the reduction of oil production in various countries of the organization, necessary to stabilize prices on world markets. There is a chance that OPEC+ countries will analyze the situation in Syria, one of the largest crude oil producers in the world. Deir ez-Zor province in eastern Syria, known as the main production base of the Syrian oil industry, has come under the full control of armed groups who have led the offensive since November 27.

In this context, the United Arab Emirates “strongly condemned” the occupation by Israeli forces of the buffer zone in the Golan Heights, on the border with Syria, and reaffirmed its commitment to the unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the Syrian State. In its statement, the Emirati Foreign Ministry emphasized Israel’s “violations” of international law, particularly the Disengagement Agreement signed with Syria in 1974. In addition, the United Arab Emirates reaffirmed its refusal “to take any action that could reignite tensions in the region and hinder efforts to achieve peace and stability.”