‘OPEC obliged to ceiling despite Iran oil embargo’

TEHRAN,Jan.28(MNA)--The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will keep output ceiling unchanged despite the EU oil embargo on Iran, the Iranian OPEC governor Mohammad-Ali Khatibi said. Khatibi added that the probable effects of imposing the EU sanction on oil prices would be revealed after the decision is implemented in July. The European Union formally imposed an oil embargo on Iran and agreed to a freeze on the assets of the Central Bank of Iran on Monday, but existing contracts will be honored until July 1. Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said that the global oil market is in a balanced situation and that members of the OPEC members observe their production quotas. OPEC members reached consensus on 30 million barrels per day oil production target during the 160th ministerial meeting in Vienna on 14th December, 2011. All 12 OPEC members collectively produced 30.37 million barrels a day in November 2011, according to OPEC’s own monthly report. Excluding Iraq, the 11 nations previously subject to quotas pumped 27.69 million barrels a day, Bloomberg quoted OPEC data as saying. The 12 members of OPEC are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.