Iran says it will ignore O.P.E.C. pact

Press, 21 March 1983, Page 8

Iran says it will ignore O.P.E.C. pact

NZPA Nicosia Iran did not recognise O.P.E.C.’s new ?US29 base price as binding, and “will continue its struggle against pressure by the superpowers” on the cartel, Iran’s Parliamentary Speaker said at the weekend.

Iran already sells its oil for as low as SUS 26 on the glutted market, and the latest statement could mean another price-cutting spiral by members and non-mem-bers of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The Speaker, Hashemi Rafsanjani, who also acts as

a Government spokesman, was quoted by the official Islamic Republic News Agency. O.P.E.C. agreed on Monday to cut its base price from SUS 34 to SUS 29 and on Tuesday the Soviet Union, a non-O.P.E.C. member and the world’s biggest producer, cut its price from 5U529.25 to ?US2B.

Because of the latest Iranian statement and the Soviet move, non-O.P.E.C. member Britain and O.P.E.C. member Nigeria may now feel pressured to reduce prices further, opening a new round of cuts. Britain fired the opening

round in the price war last month by cutting the price of North Sea oil from ?US33 to ?US3O.

In Caracas the Venezuelan Oil Minister, Dr Humberto Calderon Berti, said that any move by nonO.P.E.C. members to lower oil prices would affect the stability of the oil market, forcing O.P.E.C. to hold new consultations.

The official Iraqi News Agency said at the weekend that O.P.E.C.’s market monitoring committee would meet in London on April 12 to review the cartel’s recent pricing and production decisions.