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No Iraq at OPEC Until U.S. Leaves Baghdad
DOHA, Qatar (Reuters) - OPEC cannot permit Iraq to attend meetings of the cartel while Baghdad remains under the rule of an occupying U.S.-led authority, oil ministers said Wednesday.Attend? We didn't ask to attend or join.... "We cannot have relations with Iraq until there is an internationally recognized government, that is a consensus," said Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez. Tool of Chavez's regime "This does not mean we do not want Iraq in the organization. We do want Iraq in OPEC and we think Iraq will want to stay in OPEC because they will need a reasonable price for oil," he said. Ministers said the position, agreed during a ministerial meeting Wednesday, was common to all international organizations that hold diplomatic status. "OPEC is not a special case," said OPEC President Abdullah al-Attiyah of Qatar. That means Baghdad will be excluded from production policy conferences until Washington transfers power to a U.N.-recognized sovereign Iraqi government. Don't hold your breath fellas The stand will send ripples of concern around international oil markets. Traders are concerned that an isolated Baghdad, under Washington's influence, could leave the organization it helped form over 40 years ago. "OPEC is on the horns of another dilemma," said Peter Gignoux, head of the London energy desk at Citigroup. Baghdad has already missed two OPEC meetings since the U.S. invasion in March. Cartel officials said the group's Vienna-based secretariat would move now to contact Baghdad for the first time since the war to maintain ties with the interim authority. Oh...so I guess Iraq wasn't calling them, hmmm? "We are waiting for an Iraqi oil minister. Until that time we will contact Iraqi officials to see how we can cooperate," said Attiyah. As yet there is no clear timetable for any transition in Baghdad to a full Iraqi government. Washington is planning, in about four weeks time, to install an Iraqi interim political council that can try to name candidates to organizations like OPEC. But members of that council will not have diplomatic status and a full Iraqi government may not be in place for a year or more. It remains unclear whether or not OPEC will recognize the interim political council. Iraq is expected to resume exports in a week's time but has said it could take a year to restore supplies to pre-war volumes of 2.7 million barrels a day. Its huge reserves give it the potential to reach six or seven million barrels daily in years to come, output that would dwarf all but Saudi Arabia's in OPEC. "Don't call us...we're too busy pumping oil..we'll have to get back to you". Of course, we didn't go to war for the oil, but it sure is a bonus if OPEC and the Saudis, Libyans, Chavez, et al get screwed Posted by: Frank G 2003-06-11 |
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