Oil Minister Returns Home From OPEC Session

June 29, 2002 - 0:0
TEHRAN -- Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh returned home early Thursday morning from the 120th ministerial session of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) held in Vienna.

Upon arrival, he told reporters at the Tehran airport that members of the organization of petroleum exporting countries had agreed to maintain their current output ceilings for the next three months.

During a session of the committee supervising oil market which was held on the sidelines of the OPEC ministerial meeting, issues relevant to oil produced by OPEC and non-OPEC countries were discussed, he said.

OPEC member countries are willing to expand cooperation with non-OPEC countries over crude supply to the international markets, Zanganeh added.

The Iranian oil minister hailed the "relative stability" on the oil market, which he added the oil prices have currently increased as a result of coordination made over the past few months, IRNA reported.

He said there is a relative stability on the oil market, which is unprecedented in the past few years.

Lack of commitment by some OPEC members to their agreed production quota will inflict damage on other members, the oil minister warned, expressing hope that the problem would be settled through consultations among OPEC members.

Meanwhile, Zanganeh told reporters in Vienna on Wednesday that Iranian oil production is based on OPEC quotas and added that "Tehran will stand by its commitments to OPEC." Any increase in Iran's oil production quota is based on OPEC situation which is, in turn, based on future supply and demand in the oil markets, he continued.