Damascus on Saturday hosted the 126th meeting of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) on the level of representatives to discuss work mechanisms of the organization.

OAPEC Secretary General Abbas Ali Naqi told SANA that the three-day meeting will deal with issues related to the studies and upcoming meetings of the organization in addition to discussing the decisions of the Arab Energy Conference held recently in Doha and OAPEC General Secretariat activities in the environment field and the technical and economic studies.

He added that recommendations will be referred to the Ministerial Council scheduled on Monday for ratification.

Naqi pointed out that the organization is interested in studying and examining markets and scientific, technical and economic issues playing no role in issues related to the oil production amounts or prices.

For his part, Deputy Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Hasan Zainab said Syria is a key member in the OAPEC and plays an important role in its decisions and policy making.

He pointed out that a number of companies are affiliated to the OAPEC working in the fields of oil exploration, excavation and production. Among those are the Arab Maritime Petroleum Transport Company, the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation, the Arab Petroleum Services Company, the Arab Company for Shipbuilding and the Arab Company for Detergent Chemicals.

Zainab highlighted the important role of these companies in forming a solid base for Arab joint action and economic integration in the field of oil industry.

OAPEC was established according to an agreement concluded in Beirut in 1968 between Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Libya and was later joined by the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Algeria, Egypt, Iraq and Syria