USD 100 per barrel oil not a problem: Iran''s oil minister

Tehran, Jan 17 (MNA) Iran''s Oil Minister MasoudMirkazemi has said that USD 100 per barrel is a real price andnot a matter of concern for producers.

The price of USD 100 for oil per barrel is real, hesaid yesterday, adding the Organization of Petroleum ExportingCountries (OPEC) does not need to hold an emergency meetingover the price issue.

"None of the OPEC members finds USD 100 concerning orirrational. Some of the OPEC members see no need for anemergency meeting even with prices at USD 110 or USD 120,"Mirkazemi told a press conference in Tehran.

Iran holds the rotating OPEC presidency. The nextscheduled OPEC meeting is on June 2.

"None of the members have asked for an emergencymeeting and I think for a long time there would be no suchrequest," Mirkazemi said.

OPEC is a permanent intergovernmental organization of12 oil-exporting developing nations that includes Algeria,Angola, Ecuador, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar,Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.

The organization supplies 25 per cent of global oildemand, coordinates and unifies the petroleum policies of itsmember countries.

At its last meeting at Quito, the 12-nationorganization decided to leave production quotas unchanged,stressing the looming risks to the fragile global economicrecovery.

Some OPEC members -- Iran, Venezuela and Libya -- wereurging higher prices at Quito to above 100 dollars a barrel tooffset what they said were rising production costs.

But OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia differed, sayingbetween USD 70 and 80 a barrel was a "fair price." Iran tookover OPEC''s rotating presidency from January 1. (MNA)