JOURNALIST. - Oil, my friends, is always a hot topic and to talk with His Excellency, Mohammad Barkindo, Secretary General to the Organization of Petroleum Producing and Exporting Countries, is undoubtedly an enormous privilege. Welcome and thank you for accepting this invitation from Telesur.

OPEC SECRETARY: Thank you for your invitation. I am very glad to be back in Telesur.

JOURNALIST. - Your visit to Venezuela comes a few days after an OPEC meeting with 10 other non-OPEC producing countries, where they decided to maintain the policy of gradually increasing production with a modest increase in world oil production, when the US and the West intend to open the tap completely on oil production. But what inconvenience would it bring for OPEC producing countries to increase production currently?

OPEC SECRETARY.- Thank you very much for making such an important question. I feel deeply honored and it is a pleasure for me to come back to Caracas, Venezuela, my second home. And I would like to answer such an important question in the following way:

When we go back to July-August 2021, we would have started the last stage of the implementation of our historic agreement that we had with Non-OPEC countries in April 2020, where we saw an unparalleled collapse in oil demand as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic and we were extremely concerned.

We decided not to reinvent the wheel, because if we remember in 2016, we negotiated and made the historic agreement when we launched the Declaration of Cooperation that united OPEC and Non-OPEC countries for the first time to make decisions together and to implement these decisions together and even to monitor this implementation all together.

Several observers thought this was impossible but we continued working on this implementation and have been working perfectly well with our partners until we were hit by the Covid pandemic in 2020.

We took this unprecedented decision to readjust the supply in the world market with 9.7 million barrels per day and we started implementing this last year, we projected that by 2022 we would be able to release all the outstanding volumes to the market and we also decided to do something unique, to meet monthly to monitor the market, to know how the market responded to the monthly release.

At the last meeting we had last week in Vienna, we evaluated this implementation and the progress we had made with the stabilization of the market and decided to continue with this gradual but predictable increase, so if everything stays the same by September of this year, we will have liquidated all the 8.5 million barrels per day we had pending. At the last meeting we had last week in Vienna, we evaluated this implementation and the progress we had made with the stabilization of the market and decided to continue with this gradual but predictable increase, so if everything stays the same by September of this year, we will have liquidated all the 8.5 million barrels per day we had pending.

JOURNALIST.- But in this scenario, after Covid-19 the conflict in Ukraine broke out and some countries are saying that OPEC is refusing to react to the increase in global oil prices. What do you think about it?

OPEC SECRETARY.- On the contrary Rolando, I told you that some time ago in June-August 2021, we had to evaluate very well the market and the world economic recovery after the pandemic and we saw a very huge recovery and growth in 2021. In fact we saw that the economy increased from 9.7 to 9.8 percent in 2021 and correspondingly we also saw that the demand for crude oil also grew from 9.7 million barrels per day and therefore we made that decision to continue with this release of 400 thousand barrels monthly and in addition to this, I told you about these monthly meetings we have to monitor how the market responds to this monthly increase and so far we do not have any shortage of crude oil in the world market.

JOURNALIST.- Well, but if you see sanctions on Russia, there is a purpose in 6 months to make a total embargo on Russian oil, is there any chance that the world market can develop without that oil..

OPEC SECRETARY.- What I can tell you is that undoubtedly there is great volatility in the oil market, not only in the oil market but for all commodities in general as a consequence of these geopolitical segments occurring in Europe, particularly in the war we have in Ukraine and the reason for this is that Russia, our partner in the Declaration of Cooperation, is among the three largest producers of the three largest exporters of oil in the world. Russia exports an average of 7.5 to 7.8 million barrels of crude oil and oil products every day.

The world does not have any additional capacity to replace these exports, therefore the market reacts in a particular way. We in OPEC during the last 6 years, during the whole existence of the organization have tried to adhere to all the basic principles that were agreed here in Caracas, in 1961, under the leadership of Perez Alfonso, from here in Venezuela and the other founders of OPEC when they met here to decide the statutes of OPEC.

They decided that this organization should not be a political organization, this organization should be isolated from geopolitics and secondly oil should never be politicized and throughout these last 60 years, OPEC has finally adhered to these principles and I must say that we have done an excellent job in that regard, because we have gone through 7 oil cycles in the last 60 years including the Covid-19 pandemic and we have also had the unfortunate incident that two of our founders were fighting a war for 8 years; moreover we had a very unpleasant situation in which one of our founders invaded another member country and throughout all this the organization has tried to adhere to those principles that were led by Pablo Perez Alfonso and his colleagues, that OPEC should not be impacted by geopolitics, we should not participate or get involved in geopolitics and that we should do everything possible to depoliticize oil.

Therefore, any attempt by the international community or any other group of countries to sanction crude oil, in the end they are sanctioning themselves because the impact of these sanctions goes far beyond the boundaries of the countries that are the objects of these sanctions.

We have seen this situation in Europe, how prices continue to rise, not only in oil and gas prices, but also in the prices of minerals, metals, coal and even bread prices in many countries of the world. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity, which you have very kindly given me here at Telesur, and I thank you very much, to call on the powers of the world, on the leaders of this world not to give up. We must find a solution to these conflicts, we must find a solution to the wars, dialogue, peaceful dialogue is the only way out.

We must always move towards the triumph of peace over war, the triumph of dialogue over conflict. It is a heavy responsibility that is on the shoulders of the world's powers.

JOURNALIST.- But in the midst of this geopolitical struggle for the control of resources, countries are reacting and Russia, for example, which is asking to trade its oil in rubles, what is its opinion on this initiative and how it ultimately impacts the oil market.

OPEC SECRETARY.- These are sovereign decisions of any exporting or producing country, they can decide how their product should be paid. It is a sovereign decision.

JOURNALIST.- What other consequences have these sanctions brought about, not only now we see it in relation to this conflict in Ukraine, but we have also seen it here in Venezuela, the sanctions against the oil sector.

OPEC SECRETARY.- I have said it very clearly on several occasions, including my last visit to Venezuela, which was in September 2021, that these sanctions on Venezuela, a founding member of OPEC and a country that is on the ground that has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, these sanctions are against the entire world community.

It is a right of all citizens of the world to have access to energy and in the midst of the terrible energy poverty that many parts of the world suffer, if we end up attacking countries with these energy sanctions we are not only attacking Venezuela, but also the rest of the world and we have been suffering because the ability of the world to continue producing and exporting to world markets is hindered.

Everything has been impacted by the decisions that have been made about Venezuela, which has contracted the capacity of the Venezuelan industry to fulfill its huge role of being a reliable supplier of oil to the world market.

And we have been consistent in calling on the world powers to find solutions to this very serious problem, but I am very happy because during this visit, I was at the José Antonio Anzoátegui Petrochemical Complex in Barcelona yesterday and I saw what the young engineers and the workers of this complex have achieved in transforming this complex and reviving this complex, recovering the capacity that had been lost and in the very difficult circumstances of this situation we are referring to, and I sincerely hope that they maintain this recovery process, and I have no reason to doubt the work of Asdrúbal Chávez, as President of PDVSA and all his staff in Barcelona. Because they are truly heroes in this industry, they have made a wonderful and unparalleled transformation in oil's history.

JOURNALIST.- Before going further into the details of your visit to Venezuela, I wanted to ask you a question that has to do with a discussion that you were having these days in the US Senate on a law that has been under discussion for several years but is now returning to the discussion of this issue and it is the possibility of sanctioning OPEC, based on anti-trust sanctions, is it possible for the US to sanction OPEC or other oil producing and exporting countries.

OPEC SECRETARY.- Yes. I believe you, with respect to this anti-OPEC bill in the U.S. Congress, it is true that this bill has been in and out of several congresses over the last two decades since OPEC's existence and we have always tried to dialogue with our American friends because OPEC and its existence is in the interest of all oil producers, including the U.S. oil industry, as well as all consumers of oil. Therefore, any obstacle on the ability of the organization to continue to fulfill this role that it has to maintain stability on the sustainable basis of the oil industry would go against the benefits that we want to achieve for the world economy.

JOURNALIST.- This is your sixth visit to Venezuela, I understand, here is precisely the report of his previous visit, a bulletin published by OPEC, but what role is Venezuela playing or has played in this organization, it is one of the 13 countries that make up OPEC, also one of the founding countries, what has been the real role of Venezuela.

OPEC SECRETARY.- Thank you for this very important question Rolando. OPEC is Venezuela, Venezuela is OPEC. There was a hero in this country, a visionary, a leader, an academic who came up with the idea that all the hydrocarbon producers of the world should form an organization to protect the interests of these natural resources and to continue to maintain stability on a sustainable basis.

This hero was called Pablo Perez Alfonzo and this was in 1959, it was Perez Alfonzo who persuaded the other founding members of OPEC in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait together with Venezuela and they met in Baghdad in September 1960, They founded this organization and I made reference to the following year 1961 because they returned that year to Caracas and drafted the OPEC statutes and since then, Venezuela has armed the leadership in OPEC affairs at different times, in different circumstances, during the life of this organization which is more than 60 years old. We realize that Venezuela was always at the forefront to protect the interests of the organization, to protect its cohesion, to make sure that the organization continued to function in an efficient manner, in an effective manner aligned with the aspirations and the vision of the founders.

In year 2000 people had already thought that OPEC would not continue to exist, many of the international media came to the wrong conclusion that OPEC was irrelevant because it was literally dysfunctional and it was another hero, a world leader named Hugo Chavez, who said no, we must protect this organization, this organization does not only work for Venezuela or for OPEC member countries, but it works for all producers and consumers of hydrocarbons and also for all those consumers of course because the principle of the oil market material, benefits the producer and the consumer.

I remember that Commander Hugo Chávez visited all OPEC member countries, and I met him in the capital of Nigeria, I was part of the delegation that received him and he convinced all the leaders that we had a sacred duty to revive OPEC and they all agreed with him and he hosted the second OPEC summit, of the heads of state here in Caracas and I had the honor of participating in that summit.

In 2015 - 2016 we entered stormy waters again because the oil market was in massive imbalance, supply was far in excess of demand and crude inventories around the world had reached unprecedented levels, over 400 million barrels in a five year period, there was no room to store the world's oil and prices fell below $10 a barrel.

The media said it was the end of OPEC, but a new leader came, a patriot, a hero whom I always call with affection, Kalifa, President Nicolás Maduro, of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, he emerged and took up this challenge and he played a leadership role and a decisive role because he invited the producer countries that were not part of OPEC to join us, to walk with us, to restore the balance and equilibrium of the market.

That historic decision was called cooperation and I have to say that this would have been impossible without the intervention of President Maduro, therefore we in OPEC, and indeed all producing countries, are deeply grateful for the leadership and this heroic performance of Venezuela during the life of our organization.

JOURNALIST.- This morning here in Venezuela they paid tribute to you and you were very emotional, that is to say, many words for Venezuela and you also said that a historic transformation had taken place in the oil sector, but how historic has this transformation been, you who have known what has happened with oil in Venezuela in different stages, what message are you giving to OPEC and to the rest of the world.

OPEC SECRETARY.- When Venezuela was under siege with these unjust and extreme sanctions, of course the oil industry of this country suffered an impact, despite the fact that Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world. When Venezuela was under siege with these unjust and extreme sanctions, of course the oil industry of this country suffered an impact, despite the fact that Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world.

Its production and exports contracted drastically to the point that Venezuela and other countries, including Nigeria, were exempted from the agreement we reached in 2016 due to the impact of those sanctions, some of the facilities completely abandoned and were closed, one of these facilities was the Jose Petrochemical Complex in Barcelona, which I visited yesterday. Its production and exports contracted drastically to the point that Venezuela and other countries, including Nigeria, were exempted from the agreement we reached in 2016 due to the impact of those sanctions, some of the facilities completely abandoned and were closed, one of these facilities was the Jose Petrochemical Complex in Barcelona, which I visited yesterday.

I visited the whole complex and I could see myself the way they revived the complex, how they recovered the capacity of this complex, the up-graders, the refineries, the petrochemical units, the urea unit and when I asked, they answered me that it took them two years to achieve this miracle. I have been in the oil industry for most of my life and I have also had the good fortune to be the president of my national oil company, therefore I know well the challenges of managing this industry, even in times of peace and stability and I cannot imagine the extreme conditions that these men and women that I saw in the José Antonio Anzoátegui complex have had to live with. I told Asdrúbal Chávez, the President of PDVSA, that he performed a miracle in that place, first by reviving the complex because it is much ahead of its objective, in terms of its production and its capacity; it is now on the way to return to a production of two million barrels per day.

The refinery is working optimally, there are no shortages, they are not exporting a single barrel of refined products, your international partners have already left you, but you mobilized, you provided the leadership together with my brother Tareck El Aissami, the Minister of Petroleum, under the leadership and guidance of the Kalifa, Nicolas Maduro and you were the ones who helped these young people to make this miracle happen.

Of course I have talked to all the parties involved, not only in OPEC, but in all the countries and it seems to me that everybody should take advantage of this new management model because what you have done here is something revolutionary, because you have left aside all the traditional business models, everything we saw in business school, in the university, all this they left aside. They formed a war council with Tareck El Aissami, as their general, and they decided to do this because it was a matter of survival for the country, and in a period of two years they achieved it.

It is something inspiring for all OPEC member countries and we can do it, if Venezuela can do it, we can do it too and the world oil industry has a lot to learn from what these young people, what these men and women, have done in this complex.

JOURNALIST.- I understand that you will be ending your term at the head of OPEC very soon, what is your assessment of your own term, will OPEC continue to be that instrument of peace, of justice as Chavez used to say.

OPEC SECRETARY.- Well I already told you how we survived for the last 60 years. I cannot remember how many times the world media already wrote our funeral tribute, and I know of no other organization in history that has survived as many funerals as OPEC has, so I have no doubt that OPEC is here to stay and that it will continue to fulfill this most noble role, to fulfill its objectives of maintaining the stability of the world oil market while continuing to be a reliable supplier of oil to consumers at world level.

Of course we will continue to face headwinds, if there is something that is certain in today's world is uncertainty, we have adapted to these uncertainties and we are not only working as an organization, thanks to Nicolás Maduro, but he also helped to unite us with other countries that did not belong to the organization and we started working together since January 2017 and despite Covid, despite the geopolitical events, we have continued to work with these partners because we have all decided that this union between OPEC and Non-OPEC countries, is a Catholic marriage, that is to say, we are not going to divorce. We may have our differences from time to time like any other couple, but this marriage is for the benefit of the world, if OPEC did not exist, if Pérez Alfonzo did not exist, probably others would have created OPEC.

Today I was reading in the news that a respected Prime Minister of Europe is passing up the idea of forming an OPEC but for oil consuming countries, so isn't this a confirmation that we have passed the test of time.

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