Indonesia will be accepted by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as a full member though the country was formerly an importer but the daily production of about 800,000 bpd, out of which 200,000 bpd are exported, has been approved, said Mehdi Asali, the General Director of OPEC Affairs in Iran’s Oil Ministry, on Thursday on the threshold of the 168th meeting of the organization in Vienna.
He added that having Indonesia as a new member will lead to the change in production of crude oil. Change in output requires returning to the former set and then the new set will be defined, Asali affirmed.
Asali noted that out of global production of 80 million bpd of crude oil, 31 million bpd are produced by OPEC members, which means the OPEC output accounts for more than one-third of the commodity in the world.
The Iranian official also recounted that Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia hold that production cut is a temporary means to stabilize the oil price and are against this idea.
He also said that Saudi Arabia has conditioned its output cut on the cut by Russia; as Saudis believe that Russians do not cooperate in production rate by the OPEC.
Iran’s oil minister proposed, in the latest gathering of the OPEC ministers, 75 dollars as a fair price for crude oil but as it is believed that Saudi Arabia is more politically concerned about the price we expect them let the market define the price, recounted Asali.
The other country objected by Saudis is Iraq, as after the 2003 war on the country, the new government of Iraq holds that they have to be given an exception out of the quota system.
About electing the new secretary general of OPEC, Asali said that Iran, Iraq, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia have candidates and surely Iran would not vote for Saudi candidate and the same way Saudis would vote no to Iran’s.
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