b]RI minister to lead OPEC from Jan. 1: Indonesia's Minister of

b]RI minister to lead OPEC from Jan. 1: Indonesia's Minister of
Mines and Energy Purnomo Yusgiantoro will replace Qatar's
Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah as OPEC President from Jan. 1, the
oil producer group announced on Wednesday. Also, potentially
thorny wrangling over who will be OPEC's Secretary General has
been postponed until the end of the year, UAE Minister of
Petroleum & Mineral Resources Obaid bin Saif Al-Nasseri said. Al-
Nasseri added the current secretary general, Venezuela's Alvaro
Silva, would remain in place until the end of 2003 as scheduled.
After that, nothing has been decided. Asked if it could it be
someone other than Silva - said to be in the running to extend
his tenure - Al-Nasseri said: "It could be." Al Attiyah later
confirmed the decision had been postponed to Dec. 4, adding three
candidates - from Venezuela, Iran and Kuwait - were being
proposed. -- Dow Jones