Elaborating on his tour of Iraq upon his return to Tehran Sunday afternoon, Rostam Qasemi described his separate talks with top Iraqi officials, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Oil Minister Abdulkareem Liaybi and Vice President Hossain al-Shahrestani, as satisfactory and said discussions went well and produced agreements on expanding oil and gas trade and collaborations, Shana reported on Monday.
The Iranian minister emphasized that, during the visit, he held fruitful dialogues with his Iraqi counterpart and Prime Minister Maliki on the export of Iranian oil products, building a gas pipeline from Iran to Iraq, providing technical training for Iraqi technicians in the field of gas and oil, as well as expanding bilateral economic ties in the energy sphere.
Qasemi also noted that Iran has introduced its nominee for the next general secretary of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to the group prior to its upcoming 161st summit in Vienna on June 14.
During the June meeting, the OPEC members are to hold discussions on selecting a new secretary general for the organization.
The Iranian oil minister on Saturday held talks with Iraqi premier, during which both agreed on adopting a unified position on oil production quotas in the upcoming OPEC summit.
The two officials also underlined the need for all OPEC members to observe their production quotas as assigned by the organization.
Moreover, Maliki and Qasemi called for the expansion of economic ties and a quicker implementation of previously-signed trade agreements on the sale of Iranian petrol products to Iraq, oil excavation from joint fields, and gas exports to Iraq.
The Iranian minister also held discussions with his Iraqi counterpart Liaybi on Saturday, mainly focusing on the development of joint oil fields.
press tv/281
The Iranian oil minister has expressed satisfaction with the achievements of his recent 3-day official visit to Iraq and the agreements reached, during the trip, by the two neighboring states on energy cooperation.
News ID 181879
