VIENNA — The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Secretariat on Friday held a technical workshop via video conferencing with industry experts from select agencies that provide data from secondary sources to OPEC. The exchange aimed at sharing valuable insights and views among stakeholders on current oil market developments. OPEC General Secretary Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo along with a Secretariat team attended the meeting. Representatives from the IEA; Platts; the EIA; Argus Media; Energy Intelligence and IHS Markit were also in attendance. Delegates from 23 Declaration of Cooperation countries also joined the workshop. The technical workshop provided a platform through which views on improving data quality and how transparency can be further strengthened and enhanced among energy industry stakeholders were expressed. In his remarks, the secretary general began by emphasizing the importance of reliable and precise data, adding, “Data is the lifeblood of our research undertakings and analysis, which in turn help save policies and operational decisions. Barkindo stated, “Data provision in the oil industry has always been key, going back to even the early days of the industry.” He noted that OPEC official decisions regarding the use of secondary sources by the Secretariat were made in May 1981, at the 60th meeting of the OPEC Conference and March 1998 a the 104th meeting of the OPEC Conference. Another milestone decision from December 2019 saw secondary sources being also used to monitor production adjustments by non-OPEC Declaration of Cooperation participants. These decisions supported the organization’s fundamental principles of credibility, integrity and transparency. Barkindo also highlighted the key role that reliable data has played in helping restore oil market stability through recent decisions agreed upon by participants of the Declaration of Cooperation. He said, “What we know now is that if we had not acted in such a determined and decisive way, the market would have faced a very perilous situation.” “Data quality is critical to our noble endeavors to attain high accuracy in our reports and contributes to a better understanding of market fundamentals. “In the end, this supports not only the goals of OPEC and OPEC, but those of our entire industry, which in turn are so essential to the world economy,” Barkindo said. — KUNA