Iran's Oil Minister Meets with OPEC President in Vienna
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh met with the OPEC President Manuel Quevedo, who is also Venezuelan Oil Minister, in Vienna ahead of the organization’s 176th Meeting later on Monday.
During the meeting, the two sides talked about the status of OPEC and stressed the fact that no country could impose decisions on OPEC from outside.
“Such behavior is dangerous for OPEC’s life,” said Zangeneh at the meeting.
He said OPEC was not a political organization but unfortunately, some members wanted to use OPEC as a political tool in line with US intentions, Shana reported.
Earlier, Zangeneh told reporters in Vienna that he had no problem with output cut, slamming "unilateralism" as the biggest problem in the Organization.
"I have no problem with a production cut. The main challenge to OPEC is unilateralism. The members need to discuss and decide together," Zangeneh told reporters.
"It hasn't been OPEC’s norm that two people decide outside OPEC and then the organization approves the decision. This is the biggest threat to OPEC.”
His comments came after Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the weekend that Russia had agreed with Saudi Arabia to extend by six to nine months a deal with OPEC on reducing oil output.