Oil ministers meeting ahead of heads of state summit

Описание: (16 Nov 2007)
1. Wide of Riyadh skyline with Al Faisaliah Tower
2. Wide of Al Faisaliah Tower
3. Wide of flags of Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq
4. Mid of traffic
5. Various of flags along the streets of Riyadh
6. Wide of car driving into petrol station
7. Mid of petrol pumps
8. Wide of entrance of Intercontinental hotel where OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) meeting was held
9. Wide of police car outside hotel
10. Close-up of Intercontinental hotel sign
11. OPEC delegates arriving
12. Mid of Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki arriving
13. Mid of Qatari Petroleum Minister Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah (right on screen) and Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Mohammed Al Sabah (left)
14. Pan left of meeting
15. Mid of Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal
16. Mid of Iranian delegation
17. Mid of Mottaki
18. Mid of Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al Naimi
19. Mid of Qatari delegation
20. Mid of Angolan delegation
21. Wide of meeting
22. Mid of Ecuadorean General Coordinator at the Foreign Ministry Rafael Paredes
23. Mid of Iraqi delegation
24. Mid of Iraqi Oil Minister Minister Hussein al-Shahrastani
25. Mid of OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem el-Badri
26. Mid of Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez
27. Mid of Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci
28. Mid of Kuwaiti delegation
29. Mid of meeting
STORYLINE
Leaders of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting this weekend in the Saudi capital are likely to discuss the possibility of creating a currency basket to price their crude, Venezuela's oil minister said on Friday.
Rafael Ramirez, the minister, said the issue will come up at a closed session in the two-day OPEC summit, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
A currency basket could be used as a way for the cartel to shield crude oil exports, which are priced in US dollars, from the dollar's decline against other major currencies.
OPEC supplies about four out of every ten barrels on world oil markets.
The cartel's leaders in Riyadh on Saturday and Sunday are to discuss the challenges a potential global recession, an anaemic dollar, and rising environmental concerns to their near 1.8 (b) billion US dollars a day in revenue.
Ecuador, with its half a (m) million barrels a day of production, may also be formally welcomed back to the group this weekend.
The Dow Jones Newswires also reported that a statement at the end of the two-day gathering may include a communique on the dollar and its impact on oil prices.
Algeria's Oil Minister Chakib Khelil, however, said on Friday that the communique would not mention the weak dollar.
Some OPEC members have voiced concern about the dollar, in which their prime export product is priced, and are to call for studies to be conducted into the effects.
Proposals by both Venezuela and Iran to trade with oil in a basket of currencies in order to replace the historical link to the dollar have been put forward, but such calls haven't found enough support from some in OPEC.
The group's Secretary General Abdalla Salem el-Badri said earlier this week that the group wasn't discussing changing the pricing of crude oil from dollars into other currencies.

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