Three named as candidates for OPEC top post
Three named as candidates for OPEC top post
JAKARTA (JP): Iran, Venezuela and Nigeria are likely to be in
tough competition to win the post of the secretary general of the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) during its
three-day ministerial meeting in Denpasar, Bali, which begins
today.
Subroto, a former OPEC secretary general, said in Denpasar on
Saturday that Hossein Kazembur-Ardebili, currently the Iranian
ambassador to Japan, Alirio Parra, a former Venezuelan oil
minister, and Nigeria's Rilwanu Lukman, a former president of
OPEC, have been formally picked as the main candidates to fill
the vacant post.
President Soeharto is expected to open the ministerial meeting
at the Pertamina Cottages in Denpasar today.
"All three candidates have the capacity to take the job,"
Subroto said. Subroto formally ended his second, three-year term,
at OPEC's June meeting.
The organization, which groups Algeria, Gabon, Indonesia,
Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the
Unites Arab Emirates and Venezuela, failed to appoint a new
secretary general during the June meeting because Iran opposed
the appointment of Venezuela's Parra in favor of its own
candidate.
Subroto refused to comment on Indonesia's position towards the
three candidates or to speculate the result of the election,
which will be based on a consensus.
Production
Besides appointing the new secretary general, OPEC will also
review its current production ceiling during the Bali meeting.
The United Arab Emirates' acting oil minister Ahmed al-Badi
said on Saturday that OPEC would likely roll over the production
ceiling at their talks in Bali.
He estimated that a decision by OPEC to extend its current
output ceiling of 24.52 million barrels per day would push up oil
prices and this could help it reach a target price of US$21 a
barrel.
Ahmed al-Badi said, "The contacts and consultations that have
taken place among some OPEC members have shown a strong tendency
to extend the present ceiling," the AFP news agency reported.
"Given the strong demand in the first quarter, this will boost
oil prices. Some estimates have pointed to an increase of $2 per
barrel. But I would like to note here that any increase will be
in the direction towards the targeted price of $21 a barrel."
OPEC set the $21 reference price in 1990 but prices have
remained several dollars below that level except after the Iraqi
invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, when prices shot up to nearly
$40. They averaged at $18.44 in 1992 and $16.33 in 1993 and are
expected to be lower in 1994.(hen)