Iran’s Oil Minister to Attend Upcoming Vienna OPEC Meeting: Report
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh will participate in a forthcoming meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) scheduled to be held in the Austrian city of Vienna in June, a report said.
"The delegation led by Bijan Zangeneh, the Iranian Oil and Gas Minister, is arriving to Vienna on Wednesday for OPEC meeting," a source in the permanent mission of Iran in Vienna told Sputnik Monday.
The source added that Iran's OPEC Governor Hossein Kazempour Ardebili and high ranking officials from the country's National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) will also take part at the event.
On June 2, OPEC members are expected to discuss freezing oil output following the Doha meeting in April after OPEC and major non-OPEC oil producers failed to agree on freezing oil output at January 2016 levels to shore up prices.
Earlier, Zangeneh had dismissed any freeze agreement that would apply to Iran as “ridiculous” because the nation aims to revive production after anti-Tehran sanctions were lifted following the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and six world powers on January 16.
Iran now reportedly produces around 3.1 million bpd of oil. The sanctions had cut crude exports from a peak of 2.5 million bpd before 2011 to just over 1 million bpd in recent years.
While an initial accord in February between Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Russia and Venezuela to cap production at January levels temporarily helped revive oil prices, analysts believe a freeze would have little impact even if more nations join.
