Oil bourse not to use euros in Iran: TSM chief

IranMania.com:

Iran's stock market chief dismissed reports that the proposed oil bourse will use the euro as official currency for petroleum transactions, stressing that the Stock Exchange Council has not made such a decision.

Heydar Mostakhdemin-Hosseini, who heads the board of directors of the council, told ISNA that the council has agreed in principle to the establishment of a petroleum exchange, stressing, however, that the details of the project have yet to be discussed. READ MORE

"A consensus on the establishment of an oil bourse has to be reached before discussing the details of the project and the possible branches of the bourse," he said in response to reports that the proposed petroleum exchange will have several branches across the country.

He said the Stock Exchange Council is required to determine what types of transactions can be conducted at oil bourse.

The official said no concrete decision has been made as to drawing up the bourse's articles of association.

Mostakhdemin-Hosseini announced in July that the Stock Exchange Council has approved the establishment of the much-publicized oil bourse, adding that the council has tasked the Oil Ministry to draw up the necessary mechanisms.

Experts say, once established, petrochemicals, crude oil and oil and gas products will be traded at the petroleum exchange.

The exchange would seek to make Iran the hub of oil deals in the region.

Iran announced last September its petroleum exchange will become operational by March 2006.

Experts from International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) and the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) have reportedly confirmed the feasibility of the project.

The proposal was first put forward at the beginning of the Third Development Plan (2000-2005) and became a national project in 2003. Relevant technical studies are still underway.