Iran May Attend Algeria OPEC Meeting on Oil Freeze: Report

Iran is sending positive signals that it may support a new attempt this year by OPEC plus non-members such as Russia to stabilize production, sources in OPEC and the oil industry said, according to Reuters.

Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are due to meet informally in Algeria next month on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum. Russia is also expected to attend the IEF.

OPEC will probably revive talks on freezing oil production levels when it meets non-OPEC nations in the North African country.

On June 2, OPEC members discussed 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.

Tehran refused to join the previous attempt in April as it was striving to maximize its oil output after the termination of the sanctions following a lasting nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

However, it may attend the upcoming meeting as it has been boosting output after the removal of anti-Tehran sanctions in January and is reaching its pre-sanctions production level.

Earlier, a spokeswoman for Iran’s Oil Ministry said the country has not yet decided to participate in the OPEC meeting.

Iranian officials "have not determined yet to join the meeting" and have "made no decision" on joining a cap, she said on August 16.

Asked if production would reach pre-sanctions level by late September, she said "we don't think so."

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.

Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) on July 14, 2015 reached an agreement on Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program and started implementing it on January 16.

The agreement terminated all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran.