Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

OPEC Has a President Under Sanctions, But It's Been There Before

Published 02/15/2019, 07:00 PM
Updated 02/16/2019, 04:10 AM
© Reuters.  OPEC Has a President Under Sanctions, But It's Been There Before

© Reuters. OPEC Has a President Under Sanctions, But It's Been There Before

(Bloomberg) -- Being hit by U.S. sanctions isn’t ideal when you’re representing a global oil institution, but history shows it’s manageable.

Venezuelan Oil Minister Manuel Quevedo, who this year holds the rotating presidency of OPEC, has just been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for his ties to President Nicolas Maduro. That means any American assets he owns will be blocked and dealings with U.S. persons forbidden.

While it might be personally problematic for Quevedo, who also heads state-owned oil giant PDVSA, his role as OPEC president probably won’t be affected.

The organization is more directly represented by its secretary-general, currently the Nigerian Mohammad Barkindo. The president’s duties are more ceremonial, including such items as shaping the agenda of OPEC meetings in concert with the secretary-general. Quevedo will chair his first ministerial meeting in April.

And there’s historical proof that the office can still be discharged while being subject to American sanctions.

Iran’s Rostam Qasemi, a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, was on the sanctions list when he became oil minister -- and OPEC president -- in summer 2011. Qasemi held the role of president until the end of the year, when it alphabetically rotated to the next country, and remained as Iran’s oil minister for another two years.

However, his presidency of the organization wasn’t without incident. OPEC failed to reach any agreement on production at its meeting in December 2011, prompting Saudi Arabia’s oil minister to angrily condemn it as the worst ever.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.