Qatar's oil minister said Monday he hopes to see Russia one day become a full member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries as it would "add value" to the organization.
"I wish one day to see Russia as a full member of OPEC," Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah said in an interview in Tehran late Monday.
"Russia as the second (largest) oil exporting country (after Saudi Arabia) has a strong role in the oil market, so if Russia were to join OPEC, it would add value," Al-Attiyah said.
The Qatari oil minister arrived in Tehran Monday to attend an event being held Tuesday morning with Iran's oil minister Gholam Hossein Nozari and the head of Russian energy giant Gazprom, Alexei Miller.