Iran takes over OPEC rotating presidency for 2025

Iran assumed the rotating presidency of the OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) for next year (2025).

News ID: 5573

Date: 11 December 2024 - 09:18

TABNAK, Dec 11: Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad was appointed as Rotating President of OPEC Conference for 2025 by alphabetical order during a ministerial meeting on Tuesday which was held via videoconference and chaired by Marcel Abeke, the Gabonese petroleum minister and OPEC conference president for 2024.

The ministerial meeting convenes twice a year to review the general affairs of the 12-member OPEC and discuss its key internal matters.

Paknejad said in the meeting that it was an honor for him and Iran as a founding member of the OPEC to assume its presidency at a time when the organization needs more unity to deal with “sensitive and complicated” issues in the global energy market.

The minister, who has been leading the Iranian petroleum industry since mid-summer, said he will do his best to boost solidarity and progress in OPEC.

The appointment comes several years after the United States imposed a raft of sanctions on Iran’s oil industry, seeking to deprive the country of its export revenues.

The sanctions led to concerns that Iran may lose its position as a powerful OPEC member and a major energy supplier in the world.

Despite an initial impact that caused Iran’s oil exports to hit historic lows in 2019, the sanctions failed to crimp Iranian supplies and the country gradually reclaimed its position as the third largest supplier in OPEC.

Recent OPEC data show that Iran’s oil production reached 3.316 million barrels per day (bpd) in September before slightly falling to 3.259 million bpd in October.

Estimates suggest Iran has been exporting more than 1.5 million bpd of oil, mostly to buyers in China, in the past year.

During OPEC’s ministerial meeting on Tuesday, Iraq assumed its alternate presidency while Kuwait’s Haitham Al Ghais was reappointed as secretary general of the organization for three years.