OPEC warns against strike on Iran

OPEC warns against strike on Iran
Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:24:25
OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla Salem el-Badri
The Secretary General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries warns that an attack on Iran has 'unlimited' impact on oil prices.

“We really cannot replace Iran's production - it's not feasible to replace it,” Abdalla Salem el-Badri said in an interview on Thursday.

Iran is the fourth-largest world producer and the second-largest OPEC producer of oil which produces about 4.2 million barrels a day of the daily worldwide production of close to 87 million barrels.

This is the second time this month that the OPEC Chief warns that Iran's oil output would be difficult to replace if an attack took place on the Islamic Republic.

On July 3, the secretary general issued similar warning in an interview with the daily newsletter of the World Petroleum Congress.

The Israeli military exercise early in June, which was widely speculated as rehearsal for a potential strike on Iran's nuclear installations, has contributed to higher oil prices in recent weeks.

The concern over disruption of oil shipment from the Strait of Hormuz in case of any military action against Iran has caused oil prices to rise by $5.60, to $141.65 a barrel on Thursday.

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most important waterways in the world helping passage of 2.9 billion tons of goods, oil being the most important among them.

El-Badri calls for the peaceful solution of Iranian nuclear enrichment activity which Iran repeatedly said is for generation of electricity.

“If something happened there, nobody would be able to solve it," the OPEC Chief said.