Iran nominates ex-oil minister for post of OPEC chief

TEHRAN, June 5 (MNA) – In a letter to the OPEC secretary general Iran nominated its former oil minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari as the proposed candidate for the post of OPEC secretary general. The letter came as OPEC is preparing to hold its 161st session in its headquarters in Vienna on June 14. In the meeting the OPEC members will discuss different issues including nominees for the post of secretary general. The current OPEC secretary general, Abdalla el-Badri of Libya, will complete his second three-year term at the end of this year. Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Ecuador are competing for the post of OPEC secretary general. Analysts say Iran and Iraq, through a unanimous effort, are seeking to block efforts by Saudi Arabia to get its candidate elected as the chief of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Iran’s nominee Nozari was oil minister in President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s first administration. Nozari was also the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). Iraq nominated its former oil minister Thamir Ghadhban to the post of OPEC secretary on March 6, competing against a candidate from Saudi Arabia. Ghadhban is currently a top adviser to the Iraqi prime minister. He was oil minister in 2004 and 2005. Saudi Arabia has nominated Majid al-Moneef, its OPEC governor, as head of the producer group. Ecuador, OPEC’s smallest producer, has also nominated its Oil Minister Wilson Pastor. OPEC members are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.