Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Kingdom of Bahrain, Dr A. Saj U. Mendis called on Bahrain's Minister of Oil and Energy Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa to broach and discuss avenues of closer cooperation and collaboration in the sphere of oil and petroleum between the two countries.
The Ministry of Oil, particularly in Gulf countries such as in Bahrain, is considered an extremely critical and seminal ministry and Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa has specialized in the oil and petroleum sector from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals of Saudi Arabia, the University of Cambridge, Imperial College in London and DePaul University in the USA.
The Minister has expansive experience and exposure in Bahrain, the region and the world in the sphere of oil, energy and petroleum.
Minister of Oil, Mohammed bin Khalifa, is also Chairman of the largest corporate in the Kingdom of Bahrain, which is the Bahrain Petroleum Company, known as BAPCO and the National Oil and Gas Authority, known as NOGA.
Oil and petroleum production is one of the largest components of the GDP of the Kingdom of Bahrain and the rapid reduction of the price of oil, in the international market, has reduced the income from oil and petroleum, according to the Minister of Oil.
He said the diminishing prices of oil would not necessarily stimulate and aggrandize the economies of countries, which are importing oil and petroleum. Ambassador Dr Mendis stated that Sri Lanka expends almost one third of the import bill on oil and petroleum products.
The global production of oil is approximately 96 million barrels of oil per day (bpd). The 14-member OPEC produces approximately 40 million bpd. The largest producer is Saudi Arabia, which produces over 10 million bpd followed by the Russian Federation and the USA.
Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa and Ambassador Dr Mendis both agreed that proactive cooperation and collaboration between oil producing and exporting countries and oil importing countries, such as Sri Lanka, are imperative and vital at this juncture in order to have healthy global economic growth.
Both the Minister and Ambassador agreed that the last World Economic Forum in Davos in Switzerland was overwhelmed by the diminishing prices of oil and its impingment on the global economy.
Ambassador Dr Mendis requested more cooperation, particularly in the context of sharing of technical expertise and skilled employment opportunities to be extended to Sri Lanka.
Ambassador Dr. Mendis and Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa discussed, in detail, alternative energy sources which are being explored and developed not only by many countries but also by a number of large corporates.
The Minister also said that any instability, particularly in this region, or any other strategic region could make a negative impact on the price of oil. In other words, the price of oil could rise to over US$ 80 to US$ 100, thus slowing down the global economic growth.
Currently, oil trades around US$ 47 and the optimal price of oil to maximize global economic growth would be around US$ 55 to 60.
Both the Minister and the Ambassador broached the subject of the impact of astronomically high oil prices which were prevailing a decade ago.
In July 2008, the price of oil reached an all time high of US$ 147, which in turn, contributed to a global economic and financial crisis. On a separate note, the Minister said that many of the skilled and professional Sri Lankan expatriates in the Kingdom of Bahrain are doing very well and suggested that Sri Lanka trains more Sri Lankan nationals in technical sectors such as oil, gas, mining, petroleum and engineering, among others.
He also added that most of the large and noted companies which focused on engineering and technology prefer to recruit qualified Sri Lankan nationals, primarily, due to their technical knowhow and competency.
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