iranian oil bourse

TEHRAN -- Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh said on
Wednesday that the establishment of an oil stock exchange is in its
final stage and the bourse will be launched in Iran in the next
week.

He told reporters, upon arrival from Qatar, where he attended the
10th General Assembly of the International Energy Agency and
consultations with OPEC member states, that registration of the oil
stock exchange is under way and the entity will operate after being
approved by by Council of Stock Exchanges.

He rejected a statement attributed to him that the oil stock
exchange will bring to the U.S. economy down, and said, "I don't
know who has speculated that. I've not talked about the U.S.
economy." Asked about the conference on energy in Doha, he said that
more than 60 countries and 30 oil companies and consultants took
part.

Vaziri Hamaneh said that serious discussions of various issues were
held, including the security of supply and demand, the security of
investment in energy, and environmental issues.

"The best method for security of demand in the oil sector is that
consumers should be given the opportunity to enter into partnership
with the suppliers in investment in the oil industry," he said.

He said that the conference called for diversifying energy resources
and cooperation of the developed states with the countries
possessing oil and gas resources.

Asked about the oil price rise, Vaziri-Hamaneh said that the oil
price is being influenced by political situations, whereas it should
be freed from political impacts, and economic and technical
fundamentals should determine the oil price.

"As long as political impacts dominate the oil market, price hikes
will continue," he concluded.