Tehran, Iran, Dec.6
Trend:
Seyed Mehdi Hosseini, the ex-chairman of Iran's Oil Contract Restructuring Committee in an exclusive interview with Trend said that despite Iran`s disagreements with Saudi Arabia, it should not celebrate the Qatar`s decision to exit OPEC.
Referring to the departure of Qatar from OPEC, he said that the arrival and departure of OPEC members has a long history, and this is not the first time that this happens.
The Ecuador has already been withdrawn from OPEC and some other countries entered it, he said.
"But the reason for the departure of Qatar is important,” he said. “This country has nothing to say in the oil field, it is mostly the producer of gas and LNG. Besides, Qatar has unsolved disputes with some Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia,” he said.
“These days, we are witnessing political differences between the Arab countries. The Qatar blockade by Saudi Arabia and UAE could be one of the main factors that forced Qatar to exit OPEC,” he said.
"Perhaps Iran would not be unhappy with disputes between these three countries and the withdrawal of Qatar from OPEC, at the first stage; but in general, OPEC's coherence is to be maintained and we do not encourage any exit from OPEC,” he added.
Qatar has made a shock decision to quit OPEC after 57 years of membership.
Saad al-Kaabi, Qatar’s minister of state for energy affairs, said the decision would enable “focused efforts” on gas production. But it created shockwaves, making Qatar the first Middle Eastern country to abandon the producer group and further fracturing OPEC’s most powerful bloc, the Gulf States.