Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh left Tehran on Wednesday October 17 for Riyadh where he will deliver a message to Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz from President Mohammad Khatami, state radio said.
It said the message concerns the oil price slide and how to stabilize it, following the September 11 attacks on the United States as well as the US-led attacks on Afghanistan, but gave no further details.
Zangeneh's trip comes shortly before a visit to Riyadh Saturday by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for talks on the oil market situation. On Tuesday, Khatami also discussed the market by telephone with Chavez, who is expected in Tehran next week.
The Iranian head of state called for OPEC producers to coordinate their policies in order to "avoid a drop in the price per barrel and to guarantee the interests of producing and consuming countries."
Chavez for his part expressed his "preoccupation" over the drop in oil prices, the radio said. Earlier this month, Chavez said he is lobbying other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to shore up oil prices, possibly through a cut in output.
Khatami for his part blamed the slumping crude prices on what he said was an output increase by non-OPEC oil producers. Crude prices have slumped in the wake of the terror attacks on New York and Washington, as markets react to slowing demand from increasingly recession-hit economies around the world. — (AFP, Tehran)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
