Eurasia Press & News
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari stressed here Saturday night that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will neither increase nor decrease production in order to keep oil prices at 100 US dollars per barrel.
Nozari made the comment at a joint press conference with OPEC Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri in here Tehran, adding, “It is very unlikely that OPEC oil ministers convene another extraordinary meeting in addition to the one they recently had in Italy.
“OPEC plays a key role in securing rights of producers and the consumers in the world oil markets and today the security of the oil market is more important for the consumers of this product even than its prices,” he added.
“Currently the real price of crude oil is some two US dollars lower than the real price in 1982,” the minister reminded. “In the report presented to us today by Mr. Al-Badri, too, this point is elaborated in details.”
“The deteriorating status of the US market in addition to affecting the world oil market has also influenced the markets of precious metals and agricultural products,” he said, adding, “In comparison with the rest of the strategic goods at the international market, the increase in oil prices ranks third or even fourth today.”
Referring to the Tehran visit by the OPEC Secretary General, Nozari said, “This visit is taking place in the framework of Mr. Secretary General’s routine tours of the oil producing countries, that began with his visit to Qatar, and is among his defined organizational tasks, aimed at exchange of information and viewpoints among member states and OPEC management.”
The Oil Minister added, “During the course of this visit OPEC Secretary General presented us with a report on international oil market, the price status and the future of the market, based on which we reached the joint conclusion that production level is satisfactory currently.”
According to Nozari, al-Badri has demanded that given Iran’s chairmanship of the Supervision Committee over Market Status, Tehran play a more dynamic role in conducting effective consultation with producers in future so that OPEC members’ viewpoints would get closer to one another, and exerting closer supervision over the market would be easier in the future.
