Iranian Oil Minister Calls for Non-Political Energy Market

Owji warned in a statement on Sunday that “any interference, including political and legal meddling”, in the energy market’s economic foundations will be “a lose-lose game for all players of the energy arena” and will “fail to help eradicate energy poverty and provide the global energy market with security”.

“The global energy market is required to get rid of politicization to achieve stability,” the statement read.

“Political and legal intervention pursuing shortsighted objectives endangers stability and security of the international energy market,” the minister said.

“In spite of all uncertainties such as the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences for the world economy, the decisions made by OPEC+ member states over the past three years have to a great extent guaranteed stability and balance of the energy market in a way to serve producers and consumers’ interests,” he added.

“OPEC and non-OPEC oil producing countries – the parties to the cooperation statement – are unanimous on this point that creating economic and political instability and insecurity prevents preplanned investments in oil and energy industries’ development projects, which consequently causes instability and insecurity in global energy market,” according to the statement.

“Hence, the Islamic Republic of Iran, as one of the world’s largest holders of oil and gas reserves, attaches great significance to new investments in oil industry and welcomes any type of new investments in its oil and gas sectors, particularly by OPEC+ member states, to take a stride toward guaranteeing the world’s energy security,” Owji concluded.

The remarks came days after Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman stated that Riyadh will not sell oil to any country attempting to introduce a price cap on it.

“If a price cap were to be imposed on Saudi oil exports, we will not sell oil to any country that imposes a price cap on our supply, and we will reduce oil production, and I would not be surprised if others do the same,” he said in an interview with Energy Intelligence, commenting on the US NOPEC (No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act) bill.

The bill gives the US administration an opportunity to file anti-monopoly lawsuits against OPEC members and their partners.

In the Saudi minister’s opinion, the bill will lead to a misbalance in oil supply and demand on the global market.

“The NOPEC bill does not recognize the importance of holding spare capacity and the consequences of not holding spare capacity on market stability. NOPEC would also undermine investments in oil capacity and will cause global supply to fall severely short of future demand,” the official added.

Moreover, the minister criticized the policy of restricting oil prices, because it provokes volatility on global markets and hampers the development of the industry.

“I must reiterate the view I made on record back in August and September on how such policies would inevitably exacerbate market instability and volatility, and would negatively impact the oil industry,” he said, adding that in contrast, the OPEC+ alliance “has made every effort and succeeded” in bringing significant stability and transparency to the oil market.

In early May 2022, the Senate Judiciary Committee of the US congress passed the NOPEC bill, enabling US courts to consider anti-monopoly lawsuits against OPEC members and other countries for suspected cartel agreements. Various versions of the bill have failed in the Congress for about 20 years.