Iran to Veto Any OPEC Decision Harming Its Interests
Tehran (Dispatches) - Iran Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh said his country will veto any OPEC decision that harms the Islamic Republic and warned that some oil producers are trying to create an alternative suppliers’ forum that supports U.S. policies hostile to the government in Tehran.
Zangeneh made the remakes in an interview with Bloomberg, and added , "The agreement that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied producers reached in 2016 to cut output is in tatters, and an OPEC committee set to meet this weekend in Algiers has no authority to impose a new supply arrangement.”
"I will block any OPEC decision that poses the slightest threat to Iran,” Zangeneh said, without specifying possible actions he might take. Any decision on a new production agreement by OPEC’s Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee that meets on Sunday would be "void” and "invalid,” he said. "Decisions can only be made at OPEC meetings in the presence of all OPEC members and by consensus of members.”
"Any country that says it can make up for the shortfall in the market is siding with the U.S.,” Zangeneh told reporters in Tehran. He said he has written letters to some OPEC and non-OPEC oil ministers expressing his concerns and has complained to the group’s secretary-general about "violations” to the original output-cuts agreement, though he wouldn’t elaborate.
"I think Mr. Trump made this decision to bring Iran’s exports to zero without any consultation with any experts, not even in his own government,” he said. "He’s realized lately that this is not doable. So, they are looking for a symbolic export of zero, if they can, even for just one month.”
Iran said it will veto any OPEC decision that harms the Islamic Republic and warned that some oil producers are trying to create an alternative suppliers’ forum that supports U.S. policies hostile to the government in Tehran.
Zanganeh said he won’t be attending the Algerian JMMC meeting, which is to occur just days before the two-year anniversary of OPEC’s decision to pare production and curb a glut.
Two OPEC members are seeking to damage the group and carry out "anti-Iranian policies” at the behest of the U.S., Zangeneh said, without directly naming Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the main backers of the U.S. within the OPEC.
The U.S. and some other OPEC members will probably boost crude supplies from their inventories to keep a lid on prices ahead of the mid-term U.S. Congressional elections in November, the Iranian minister added.
Zangeneh said he has written letters to some of his OPEC and non-OPEC counterparts to express his concerns and complain to the group’s secretary-general about "violations” to the original output cuts agreement.
"The agreement doesn’t really exist anymore. It’s finished... Russia initially cut 300,000 barrels a day of production but then added it all back. ... There’s no agreement left, really," he said.
While the Algiers meeting to be held on September 23 is to be attended by most major oil producers except Iran, it will be just a committee review. A full-scale official OPEC meeting is slated to be held in December in Vienna.
***Iran Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh
Zangeneh made the remakes in an interview with Bloomberg, and added , "The agreement that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied producers reached in 2016 to cut output is in tatters, and an OPEC committee set to meet this weekend in Algiers has no authority to impose a new supply arrangement.”
"I will block any OPEC decision that poses the slightest threat to Iran,” Zangeneh said, without specifying possible actions he might take. Any decision on a new production agreement by OPEC’s Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee that meets on Sunday would be "void” and "invalid,” he said. "Decisions can only be made at OPEC meetings in the presence of all OPEC members and by consensus of members.”
"Any country that says it can make up for the shortfall in the market is siding with the U.S.,” Zangeneh told reporters in Tehran. He said he has written letters to some OPEC and non-OPEC oil ministers expressing his concerns and has complained to the group’s secretary-general about "violations” to the original output-cuts agreement, though he wouldn’t elaborate.
"I think Mr. Trump made this decision to bring Iran’s exports to zero without any consultation with any experts, not even in his own government,” he said. "He’s realized lately that this is not doable. So, they are looking for a symbolic export of zero, if they can, even for just one month.”
Iran said it will veto any OPEC decision that harms the Islamic Republic and warned that some oil producers are trying to create an alternative suppliers’ forum that supports U.S. policies hostile to the government in Tehran.
Zanganeh said he won’t be attending the Algerian JMMC meeting, which is to occur just days before the two-year anniversary of OPEC’s decision to pare production and curb a glut.
Two OPEC members are seeking to damage the group and carry out "anti-Iranian policies” at the behest of the U.S., Zangeneh said, without directly naming Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the main backers of the U.S. within the OPEC.
The U.S. and some other OPEC members will probably boost crude supplies from their inventories to keep a lid on prices ahead of the mid-term U.S. Congressional elections in November, the Iranian minister added.
Zangeneh said he has written letters to some of his OPEC and non-OPEC counterparts to express his concerns and complain to the group’s secretary-general about "violations” to the original output cuts agreement.
"The agreement doesn’t really exist anymore. It’s finished... Russia initially cut 300,000 barrels a day of production but then added it all back. ... There’s no agreement left, really," he said.
While the Algiers meeting to be held on September 23 is to be attended by most major oil producers except Iran, it will be just a committee review. A full-scale official OPEC meeting is slated to be held in December in Vienna.
***Iran Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh