Zanganeh: No "economic justification" for OPEC to boost output
(ADDs further quotes, corrects dateline)
Tehran, March 10, IRNA -- Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh here Monday cautioned world oil exporters against being taken away by political developments in the Persian Gulf, saying there was no need for OPEC to increase output under the present situation.
"Under the present conditions, there are no economic
justifications for increasing the OPEC production," he told IRNA
ahead of a scheduled meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna Tuesday.
Zanganeh said "OPEC must refrain from taking any politically
motivated measures" as it was reported that participants at the
Tuesday meeting sought to find a Western-friendly compromise to
guarantee world oil supplies.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran will not endorse decisions of
political connotations, and we are confident that OPEC will not take
decisions regarded by the world Muslim and Arab public opinion as supportive of the United States' military invasion against an OPEC fellow member," he said in reference to Iraq.
Facts and figures indicate that the market is not facing a
shortage at the moment, Zanganeh said, adding "if the current
production level and the increment supply from Venezuela continue, there will be a daily 3.1 million barrel over-supply in the second quarter".
The Iranian oil minister brushed aside fears of a possible upset
to global oil supply among oil markets and consumers on the back of a looming military showdown in the oil-rich Persian Gulf region, which have caused crude prices to spiral up to new highs.
"Prices, at any rate, are not reflecting market fundamentals.
There is the war premium. There is the uncertainty about future
political developments in both the Middle East and the Persian Gulf region.
"Impacts of speculation, logistical problem, products-related
issues, as well as the US gas market problems are also there, those have nothing to do with the OPEC production ceiling," Zanganeh added.
"If the political tensions of the war with Iraq had been absent,
OPEC should have acted to cut its production ceiling. Thus, under the present conditions, there are no economic justifications for
increasing the OPEC production," he went on to say.
BH/AR
End