2 organization of the petroleum exporting countries public relations & information department obere donaustrasse 93 a 1020 vienna austria head pr editor in chief farouk u muhammed mni graham patterson design alaa al saigh elfi plakolm typesetting andrea birnbach diana lavnick circulation leo rettenbacher copyright 2000 issn 0474 6317 cover photo and photos on pages 12 20 courtesy qatar general corporation 4 6 7 9 40 44 47 opec printed by ueberreuter print digimedia 3 foreword may i welcome reader to 1999 edition annual report these are indeed spe cial times for since it was september 1960 that founded at its first meeting baghdad our th anniversary which some people confidently predicted would never reach is truly historic achievement previous remarked oil price slump began late 1997 continued throughout 1998 into early months akin violent storm had rocked industry
