TEHRAN - Iranian Deputy Oil Minister for International Affairs and Trading Amir-Hossein Zamaninia who is the country’s governor at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has been elected as the new chairman of the OPEC executive board for 2021.

The decision was made during the 180th meeting of the OPEC Conference which was held on Monday.

The mentioned board is the executive body of OPEC which directs the Organization's affairs, implements the decisions made at meetings, reviews and decides on the reports submitted by the Secretary General, submits reports and recommendations to the ministerial meetings, prepares the budget for each calendar year and submits it to the ministerial meetings for approval and etc.

In the meeting, extending the oil output cut of 7.7 million barrels per day was discussed. Although some OPEC members complained that some members had not complied with the previous decisions, there was a consensus that the organization’s complaint was not in a way that could prevent an extension of the existing deal.

OPEC members’ main concern was about how non-OPEC members would cooperate, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said in a press conference following the 180th OPEC meeting which was held through video conference on Monday.

The 12th meeting of the oil and energy ministers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a grouping known as OPEC+, was due to be held on Thursday in Vienna but it was postponed to Thursday December 3.

“What is important is that we negotiate and have the patience to reach a conclusion,” Zanganeh said announcing the adjournment of the ministerial meeting.

The OPEC meeting on Monday evening lasted more than four hours.

EF/MA