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)