Khatibi Says Iran’s Energy Minister Eligible for OPEC Role

16 May 2011 | 16:48 Code : 12808 Latest Headlines

Bloomberg-- Iran’s OPEC Governor Mohammad Ali Khatibi said his country’s energy minister would be eligible to take over temporarily as president of the crude exporters’ group after the government yesterday dismissed the oil minister.

Energy Minister Majid Namjou’s possible role as head of Iran’s oil and energy ministries, which are to be combined, means he could also assume the presidency of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Khatibi said today in a telephone interview from Tehran.

Iran, the second-largest crude producer in OPEC after Saudi Arabia, currently holds the group’s presidency. OPEC ministers plan to meet next on June 8.

Iran’s government had been required to reduce the number of ministries to 17 from 21 by 2015, as part of a plan to improve efficiency. The government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced on May 9 that the Oil Ministry will merge with the Energy Ministry. The Industries and Mines Ministry is to be combined with the Commerce Ministry, while the Welfare Ministry will merge with the Labor Ministry, Ahmadinejad said.

The president yesterday dismissed Oil Minister Masoud Mir- Kazemi, Industry and Mines Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian and Welfare Minister Sadegh Mahsouli, saying their responsibilities had ended.

Parliament Must Approve

A new minister for the combined oil and energy ministries will be appointed “as soon as possible,” Khatibi said. Iran’s parliament must approve the structure of the enlarged ministry before any nominations can be made for the post, he said.

Khatibi told the state-run Fars news agency today that he is waiting for the president “to clarify the Oil Ministry’s situation and to name someone as the caretaker. Either Namjou will be the caretaker, or the president will name someone else,” he said in the Fars interview.

Ahmadinejad named Commerce Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari to oversee the Industry and Mines Ministry and Labor Minister Abdolreza Sheikholeslami to take over the Welfare Ministry, in two separate letters posted on the president’s website today. Ahmadinejad hasn’t named a caretaker for the Oil Ministry.

The removal of Mir-Kazemi and the two other ministers sends a message that Iran is “unstable,” the Arman newspaper reported, citing Ahmad Tavakoli, head of the parliament’s research center. It goes against national interests when Iran, for the first time in 38 years, holds the OPEC presidency, Tehran-based Arman cited Tavakoli as saying.

Lawmakers criticized Ahmadinejad last week for what they said was his failure to consult with then on details of the ministry mergers. The president should have sought parliamentary approval for the structural changes as well as dismissals, Arman reported, citing Tavakoli.

Iran holds the world’s fourth-largest proven oil reserves, according to data from BP Plc. Brent crude futures for June settlement rose 85 cents, or 0.8 percent, on May 13 to end the week at $113.83 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.