Iran's oil industry will support President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's
nomination for oil minister if approved by parliament, Iran's governor
for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said Thursday.
"The whole industry will respect it," Mohammad Ali Khatibi told Zawya Dow Jones in a telephone interview.
President Ahmadinejad has nominated Massoud Mir-Kazemi,
previously deputy commerce minister, as the country's oil minister,
according to ISNA news agency.
Analysts have given the prospect of Mir-Kazemi's appointment
a cool reception amid concern that replacing the incumbent Gholam
Hossein Nozari could unsettle the country's industry just as it faces
tougher sanctions from the West.
"Choosing this guy to head the oil ministry when this
happens would be a very bad idea," said Mostafa Al Ani, senior analyst
at Dubai-based think-tank Gulf Research Center.
New sanctions targeting the exporting of oil products to
Iran, which is already suffering from domestic supply shortages, will
be enforced on Sept. 15. Iran, the second-largest oil producer in OPEC,
pumped 3.75 million barrels a day in July, according to the latest Dow
Jones OPEC-11 Survey.
Ahmadinejad also nominated Mohammad Aliabadi as the
country's energy minister and proposed Manouchehr Mottaki to remain as
foreign minister. The complete list of nominees for will be put to a
parliamentary vote on Aug. 30.
Iran's economy, dependent on oil, has suffered under
Ahmadinejad who has faced internal criticism for his failure to turn
around inflation and unemployment. Inflation is running at 25% in 2008
and unemployment at 12.5%, although unofficial figures are much higher.
"The need for revenues given the weaker economy will mean
that any softening of oil prices would be problematic," said Julia
Nanay, Senior Director at PFC Energy.