Oil Production Ceiling Will Remain Unchanged
September 22, 1999 - 0:0
TEHRAN Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar-Zanganeh said in Vienna Tuesday that on Wednesday's scheduled OPEC Ministerial Meeting there will not be new decisions concerning changes in the OPEC oil production ceiling. The Iranian Oil Minister, who arrived in Vienna to attend the OPEC's 180th session, told IRNA that the average oil price is still below $16 per barrel for 1999. In addition, the oil inventory reserves, which is one of the important indices of market conditions, stands at a high level and there is no indication of reduction of the reserves, he added.
On presence of non-OPEC members at the Wednesday session he said, "We welcome and support these countries, especially the African country of Angola. Mexico and Russia which are non-OPEC members will also attend the meeting." Presence of these countries is a testimony to the ability of OPEC in regulating the oil market and ending the instability in the oil markets, Zanganeh reiterated.
Eleven countries will participate in the 180th OPEC session with a working agenda which includes announcing oil production ceiling and selecting a secretary general for the organization. According to the latest statements by the OPEC ministers the organization plans to continue to abide by the March 1999 agreement on production ceiling which set the total production volume, excluding Iraqi production, at 22.976 million bpd until the end of March 2000. He also said that main issues discussed at the meeting of heads of OPEC will also be reviewed by OPEC ministerial session.
Hossien Kazem Pour-Ardebili from Iran and Sulaiman al-Herbish from Saudi Arabia are the two candidates for the post of the secretary general and Zanganeh has said the two countries have agreed that each will occupy the post in two consecutive three-year terms. The meeting is held at the time when oil prices are continuing their upward trend and the average oil prices topped 22.31 per barrel last week, the highest level in the past two and half years.
On presence of non-OPEC members at the Wednesday session he said, "We welcome and support these countries, especially the African country of Angola. Mexico and Russia which are non-OPEC members will also attend the meeting." Presence of these countries is a testimony to the ability of OPEC in regulating the oil market and ending the instability in the oil markets, Zanganeh reiterated.
Eleven countries will participate in the 180th OPEC session with a working agenda which includes announcing oil production ceiling and selecting a secretary general for the organization. According to the latest statements by the OPEC ministers the organization plans to continue to abide by the March 1999 agreement on production ceiling which set the total production volume, excluding Iraqi production, at 22.976 million bpd until the end of March 2000. He also said that main issues discussed at the meeting of heads of OPEC will also be reviewed by OPEC ministerial session.
Hossien Kazem Pour-Ardebili from Iran and Sulaiman al-Herbish from Saudi Arabia are the two candidates for the post of the secretary general and Zanganeh has said the two countries have agreed that each will occupy the post in two consecutive three-year terms. The meeting is held at the time when oil prices are continuing their upward trend and the average oil prices topped 22.31 per barrel last week, the highest level in the past two and half years.