In the letter addressed to Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy & Industry of United Arab Emirates and the currenct President of the OPEC, Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zanganeh added that such procesure is “totally in contradiction with the monitoring task of both JMMC and JTC, and indicates misinterpretation by the JMMC over its mandate, as well as disregard for the decision of the 174th Meeting of the OPEC Conference.”

The following is a copy of the correspondence provided by Petro Energy Information Network (SHANA):

While acknowledging the receipt of Your Excellency’s letter dated 1st of August 2018, I would like to express my appreciation to you for your efforts made in implementation of the OPEC Conference decisions.

It is beyond any doubt that OPEC efforts in maintaining market stability and pursuing its objectives as expressed in its Statute and the decision adopted at the 171st Meeting of the OPEC Conference, as well as resolution No. 174:513 are very important and all OPEC Member Countries should exercise their utmost endeavor to implement these decisions. In this regard, I found it compelling to draw Your Excellency’s attention to monitoring fault by JMMC in the implementation of decision taken at 171st Meeting of the OPEC Conference, as well as resolution No.174:513.

As mentioned in my previous correspondence, correct interpretation of the decisions taken at the 174th Meeting of the OPEC Conference is essential for proper monitoring of their implementation. The decision adopted by the First Extraordinary Meeting of the JMMC and its notification to the JTC on 18 July 2018 has confirmed my concerns over misinterpretation of the OPEC Conference decisions by the JMMC. According to the report of the aforesaid meeting, the JMMC has asked the JTC to monitor the implementation of the decision made at the 4th OPEC-non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting, but nothing has been mentioned about monitoring the implementation of the decision made at the 174th Meeting of the OPEC Conference.

I would like to add that, I. R. Iran participated at the 18th JTC without any voting right, and to our dismay we witnessed that some members attempted to redistribute over-conformity in production adjustment level among themselves, and attempts to hand over OPEC countries’ over-conformity to non-OPEC countries. This very procedure is totally in contradiction with the monitoring task of both JMMC and JTC, and indicates misinterpretation by the JMMC over its mandate, as well as disregard for the decision of the 174th Meeting of the OPEC Conference.

Therefore, given all the above-mentioned points, Your Excellency is kindly requested to ensure the following:

The JMMC is obliged to monitor the implementation of the decision of the 174th Meeting of the OPEC Conference. This monitoring should be done as stipulated in the text of 174th Meeting of the Conference decision and as explained in my previous letter, the report should be provided continually to Member Countries.

The JMMC is required to refrain from making any attempts to redistribute the over-conformity, including, among OPEC Member Countries, or, between OPEC and non-OPEC Countries as this is beyond the mandate of JMMC and it contradicts the decision made at the 171st Meeting of the OPEC Conference, and resolution No. 174:513.

In case the JMMC does not fulfill its mandate as stipulated in the decision of the 174th Meeting of the OPEC Conference, and has a different understanding from the decision of the above-mentioned Conference, the issue should be raised at an Extraordinary Meeting of the OPEC Conference for decision making.

In conclusion, it would be highly appreciated if Your Excellency could instruct the OPEC Secretariat to circulate the present letter to Their Excellencies Heads of delegation of the OPEC Member Countries.