Iran Raps OPEC Members Offering To Replace Its Oil

Iran Raps OPEC Members Offering To Replace Its Oil

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Monday the kingdom would be able to meet any future oil market shortages because of its high levels of investment to maintain oil production capacity.

February 4, 2012 1:12 by Reuters

Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi criticized some Arab countries for suggesting they could replace Iranian oil in case of disruptions in crude supplies, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Friday.

Tensions between Iran and the West rose this month when European Unionleaders agreed to embargo Iranian oil by July and to freeze the assets of Iran’s central bank, joining the United States in a new round of measures aimed at discouraging Tehran’s nuclear development programme

“Some OPEC countries should adopt reasonable policies,” the semi-official Mehrnews agency quoted Qasemi as saying in a letter to OPEC President Abdul-Kareem Luaibi.
“The interests of regional countries depend on joint cooperation,” Qasemi added.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, said last month it could pump more oil at a moment’s notice after Iran warned Gulf oil producers not to compensate for any disruption to Iranian output.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Monday the kingdom would be able to meet any future oil market shortages because of its high levels of investment to maintain oil production capacity.

Recent EU sanctions on Iran take direct aim at the ability of OPEC’s second biggest oil exporter to sell its crude.

Iran has warned in response that it could cut off oil exports to Europe before July 1, when
the EU sanctions would be fully enforced. Tehran has also threatened to close the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, a move Washington said it would not tolerate.
The EU accounted for 25 percent of Iranian crude oil sales in the third quarter of 2011. But analysts say the global oil market will not be overly disrupted if Iran decides to turn off the oil tap for Europe. (Writing by Zahra Hosseinian, editing by Jane Baird)