Indonesian minister to lead OPEC from Jan 1

Indonesia's Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro will assume the presidency of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) from January 1, 2004, The Jakarta Post reported.

Purnomo will replace the present OPEC president Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah from Qatar, the oil cartel announced on Wednesday during its meeting in Vienna, Austria.

But the selection of the OPEC's next secretary-general has been postponed until December, the United Arab Emirates? Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Obaid bin Saif al-Nasseri told the Dow Jones news agency.

OPEC's present secretary-general Alvaro Silva of Venezuela would remain in his post until the end of the year, al-Nasseri said.

Al-Attiyah later confirmed that the selection process of OPEC 's next secretary-general had been postponed to December 4. He also revealed that three candidates -- Venezuela, Iran and Kuwait -- were vying for the most influential post in the cartel.

OPEC stunned oil market traders on Wednesday by announcing it would lower its oil production by 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 24.5 million bpd.

The oil producer group said the global economic situation "requires a reduction in supply".

"While the global economy seems to be improving, only normal growth is expected during the fourth quarter, an OPEC spokesman told journalists after the group's meeting. (*)