Iran to hold Opec presidency for first time in 36 years

Iranian petroleum minister Masoud Mir-Kazemi will hold the presidency from 1 January 2011

Iran will assume the presidency of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) for the first time in 36 years.

The country's oil minister was elected as Opec president at a one-day meeting of the group, which is made up of 12 oil producing states.

Masoud Mir-Kazemi will hold the presidency from 1 January 2011.

Iran, which takes over from Ecuador, is Opec's second-largest oil producer and holds about 10% of world oil reserves.

At the meeting in Vienna, Opec also agreed to keep its oil production target unchanged at about 24.8 million barrels a day.

US light crude ended Thursday trading down 32 cents to $82.69.

Brent crude finished 11 cents lower at $84.53.