Iran to send caretaker oil minister to OPEC

The man President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad put in charge of the Oil Ministry less than a week ago will represent Iran at Wednesday’s OPEC meeting in Vienna, the Oil Ministry said on its website Monday.

“The new caretaker of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Oil Ministry [Mohammad Aliabadi] will go to Austria to attend the 159th OPEC meeting,” SHANA reported, citing Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi.

The confirmation ended weeks of speculation about who would represent the group’s second-largest producer at OPEC. Iran is likely to counter pressure from Gulf Arab nations to increase oil output to calm high prices.

Speaking at his induction ceremony Monday, Aliabadi, whose last job was head of Iran’s Olympic Committee, dismissed criticisms of his lack of oil experience, saying he had been involved in the rebuilding of refineries and petrochemcial plants after the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.

The uncertainty over the Iranian OPEC delegation began when Ahmadinejad sacked Oil Minister Massoud Mirkazemi last month and put himself in charge.

Analysts said the prospect of Iran’s West-baiting president at OPEC would lessen the likelihood of any output hike that consumer countries say is needed to nurture a fragile economic recovery.

But under pressure from Parliament and the state constitutional watchdog, both of which said he had no legal right to head the ministry, Ahmadinejad appointed ally Aliabadi as caretaker minister last Thursday.

That did not quell domestic criticisms. The head of Parliament’s energy committee said Aliabadi was the “worst choice” for the job whose lack of oil experience could harm Iran’s vital energy industry.

The committee’s deputy head, Abdollah Kaabi, stepped up the criticism, telling Parliament’s news website icana.ir: “Unfortunately managers who had years of experience in the country’s oil industry have been put aside and those whose mismanagement is proven in other management fields are now in charge of the most technical ministry.”

Aliabadi would need Parliament’s approval to keep the job on a permanent basis beyond a three-month spell as caretaker.

While there were no reports of Aliabadi’s planned stance for the meeting, Iran’s envoy to OPEC said Tehran opposed the output increase which more dovish OPEC members are seeking.

“There is no need to increase OPEC production in the 159th meeting of this organization,” state broadcaster IRIB quoted Mohammad Ali Khatibi as saying, citing SHANA.

OPEC delegates have told Reuters that Gulf Arab OPEC members, led by Saudi Arabia, will push for an increase in supply, some talking of at least one million barrels a day.

But Khatibi said an increase in supply could lead to an unjustified steep drop in oil prices.

“It is not fair that the market situation changes to over-supply,” he said. “The decrease of oil prices means that producers should be more alert before supplying more oil to the market.”

Source: Daily Star