The OPEC+ alliance plays an instrumental role in supporting market stability, said OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais on the sixth anniversary of the group’s formation.   The Declaration of Cooperation (DoC) is an unprecedented collaborative framework of 23 oil-producing countries that is based on trust, mutual respect and dialogue, Al Ghais said in a statement.    It aims to secure sustainable oil market stability through cooperation and dialogue, including at the research and technical levels, for the benefit of all producers, consumers and investors, as well as the global economy at large.    “Six years later, the framework continues to play an instrumental role in supporting market stability, which is essential for growth and development, as well as attracting the necessary investment to ensure energy security,” he added.    OPEC+, which groups together the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, last met on Dec. 4.    On Dec. 10, 2016, OPEC member countries and Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei Darussalam, Equatorial Guinea, which later joined OPEC, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, Sudan, and South Sudan met at the OPEC headquarters in Vienna, Austria, and decided to establish the DoC as a platform for cooperation and dialogue in the interest of oil market stability.    Other producers attended the meeting in support of these extraordinary efforts.    Oil prices settled lower in volatile trading on Friday, with both benchmarks recording their biggest weekly declines in months, as growing recession fears negated any supply woes after weak economic data from China, Europe and the United States.   US West Texas Intermediate crude settled 44 cents lower at $71.02 a barrel, a new low for 2022. Brent crude settled 5 cents lower at $76.10 per barrel on Friday.