Qasemi : Iran seeks fair price for oil

Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi has said that Iran seeks a fair mechanism for the production of oil and its price. According to a report by Mehr news agency on Wednesday, Qasemi did not elaborate what he meant for a fair price for oil but he emphasized that Iran as the OPEC president with huge reserves of oil and gas has the leading role in the decision-making in international energy organizations. The Iranian minister reiterated the critical role of the Islamic Republic in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and referred to some specific policies of Saudi Arabia designed to meet the interests of western consumers, saying, “Saudi Arabia isn’t the whole OPEC. Iran and other member states of OPEC should play a more active role in the group.” At the last OPEC meeting on June 8 Iran successfully opposed a push led by Saudi Arabia to raise output quotas, leading the Saudis to increase production unilaterally, a move strongly criticized by other members of the group. Crude oil has dropped to the lowest level since Sept. 29 a year ago after recent U.S. and Europe economic uncertainties. Oil futures have fallen 17 percent in August and 13 percent this year. However, on Wednesday, oil futures jumped after the Federal Reserve said it would keep interest rates low for the next two years in a bid to shore up the economy of the world's largest oil consumer. Photo: Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi (left) talks to the media