thr 041 Iran Zanganeh-US Sanctions  US Responsible For Oil Shortage, Says Zanganeh London, Sept. 18, IRNA -- Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has criticised US sanctions for being responsible for the current oil shortages hitting world markets, Petroleum Argus reported Monday.

"Sanctions have destroyed the production capacity of some countries. This policy has had a bad effect in the market," he was quoted saying in an interview with the weekly oil newsletter. "Certainly sanctions have postponed some of our development and stopped the development of fields in Libya. Now we do not have a huge volume of excess capacity in the world," the Iranian oil minister said. He added that the newly developed Caspian oil did not represent a valid supply alternative.

Zanganeh did not put a figure on how much more oil could have been developed without US sanctions, but said that the volumes of excess capacity in the world was "not enough, not only for this year but especially for the future." "It will not be enough to secure the supply side in a crisis situation," he warned. With regard to US extraterritorial sanctions against Iran, the oil minister told Petroleum Argus they were "now dead and buried." The only sanctions were "now against US energy companies," he said, in reference to President Clinton's ban on American involvement. Despite the sanctions, Zanganeh was confident that Iran will achieve a production capacity increase to 5 million barrel per day over the next four years. HC/JH End ::irna 18/09/2000 15:37

http://www.irna.com/newshtm/eng/28153728.htm

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 18, 2000