The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is holding a seminar here on Tuesday, in a bid to cope with the ever rising oil prices, the increasingly volatile market and other issues concerning the oil market,

The two-day seminar, entitled "OPEC in a new energy era: challenges and opportunities," is seen as part of the energy group's efforts to come to grips with both short and long-term oil issues regarding demand predictability, security of supply, investment, technology and the current downstream market tightness.

The seminar will focus mainly on six topics, including global energy outlook, oil production capacity expansion, and the role of OPEC in a new energy era.

Most of the oil ministers of the 11-member group and experts from some non-OPEC oil producing and consuming countries are attending the international seminar.

The cartel has in the past two years established energy dialogue with the European Union, China, Russia, as well as with such organizations as the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

To curb the market volatility witnessed in recent months, which is believed to be a result of the imbalance between the available refining capacity and the demand for petroleum products, OPEC is undertaking over 100 projects as part of its medium-term plan, with an overall estimated cost of some 100 billion U.S. dollars.

Source: Xinhua