"While both parties welcomed an enhanced diversification of the energy mix, they also noted that, under all reputable scenarios, the world would continue to rely on oil as its dominant source of energy, to foster economic growth and social progress," said the European Commission in a statement.
They also noted that, according to most reputable international institutions, there are enough conventional and non-conventional oil resources to meet demand.
The one-day meeting was part of the formal EU-OPEC Energy Dialogue, which was established in December 2004, to exchange views on energy issues of common interest, including oil market developments, "Notable successes have already been achieved with the energy dialogue," noted the statement.
Wednesday's roundtable included sessions on: the energy outlook over time-horizons to 2030; the EU's energy, transport and climate policies; and OPEC's capacity-expansion objectives and market stabilization measures.
Both the EU and OPEC believe that cleaner fossil fuels technologies should be promoted.
A joint EU-OPEC study on investment needs in the refining sector and the role of the oil refining industry in oil markets is now in progress.
The parties concluded that continued dialogue and exchanges of views between the EU and OPEC constituted an important element in improving understanding among all parties and that this was in line with the mutual interests of supporting oil market stability and predictability, for the benefit of the world at large.
The event was co-chaired by Mr Heinz Hilbrecht, Director of the European Commission's Directorate for Conventional Energies, and Dr Hasan M. Qabazard, Director of OPEC Secretariat's Research Division.
The next event under the EU-OPEC Energy Dialogue will be the 4th Ministerial Meeting in Vienna on 21 June.
OPEC
Europe
Energy Dialogue
