Iran Output Fix Seen Needed Before OPEC Meet
January 14, 1999 - 0:0
DUBAI OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia and other producers want the thorny issue of Iran's oil production baseline resolved before the cartel could hold any emergency meeting, an OPEC delegate said on Tuesday. "Saudi Arabia and other producers in OPEC believe the issue of Iran's production should be resolved before any emergency meeting could be held," the OPEC delegate told Reuters. The comments were the latest sign that the fractious OPEC group had not made any serious progress in resolving the issue of Iran's baseline production.
The OPEC delegate underscored the issue of Iran's production baseline just after Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Saud Nasser al-Sabah said he would contact fellow OPEC ministers to try and convene and emergency meeting in February in an effort to boost world oil prices. The Kuwaitis are pushing hard for the convening of an emergency meeting before OPEC's next scheduled session in Vienna in late March. But there are no tangible signals that momentum for an emergency meeting is gathering in the cartel plagued by bitter squabbling.
A source familiar with Iranian oil affairs told Reuters on Tuesday that Tehran believes an emergency meeting should only be convened if OPEC producers reach a deal to save prices beforehand. "Otherwise the meeting would only hurt the market if no deal was agreed," the source said. Markets are currently focused on Iran's production policy, seeking signs that either the Islamic Republic or its critics in OPEC, mainly Saudi Arabia, will show some flexibility on the issue.
Tehran has said it would not back down on its production demands. At OPEC's last meeting in November, heavyweight Saudi Arabia accused Iran and Venezuela of going back on supply cuts agreed earlier this year. At that meeting, Iran insisted hat the benchmark for OPEC's summer to cut output was unfair. Tehran wants OPEC to recognize 3.925 million barrels per day (bpd) as the basis or its individual output reduction and any future cuts, instead of the 3.623 million bpd judged by the media and independent analysts.
Iran's OPEC governor Hossein Kazempour Ardebili told Reuters on Tuesday that Tehran would back any OPEC measures to "restore stability to the market". Iran has said other OPEC states were using its production baseline demands to mask other problems in the cartel at a time of fierce competition over market share amid weak prices. (Reuters)
The OPEC delegate underscored the issue of Iran's production baseline just after Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Saud Nasser al-Sabah said he would contact fellow OPEC ministers to try and convene and emergency meeting in February in an effort to boost world oil prices. The Kuwaitis are pushing hard for the convening of an emergency meeting before OPEC's next scheduled session in Vienna in late March. But there are no tangible signals that momentum for an emergency meeting is gathering in the cartel plagued by bitter squabbling.
A source familiar with Iranian oil affairs told Reuters on Tuesday that Tehran believes an emergency meeting should only be convened if OPEC producers reach a deal to save prices beforehand. "Otherwise the meeting would only hurt the market if no deal was agreed," the source said. Markets are currently focused on Iran's production policy, seeking signs that either the Islamic Republic or its critics in OPEC, mainly Saudi Arabia, will show some flexibility on the issue.
Tehran has said it would not back down on its production demands. At OPEC's last meeting in November, heavyweight Saudi Arabia accused Iran and Venezuela of going back on supply cuts agreed earlier this year. At that meeting, Iran insisted hat the benchmark for OPEC's summer to cut output was unfair. Tehran wants OPEC to recognize 3.925 million barrels per day (bpd) as the basis or its individual output reduction and any future cuts, instead of the 3.623 million bpd judged by the media and independent analysts.
Iran's OPEC governor Hossein Kazempour Ardebili told Reuters on Tuesday that Tehran would back any OPEC measures to "restore stability to the market". Iran has said other OPEC states were using its production baseline demands to mask other problems in the cartel at a time of fierce competition over market share amid weak prices. (Reuters)