In an interview with Tasnim, Mohammad Ali Khatibi said the outbreak of the coronavirus that has dampened global demands for oil and the recent unfruitful OPEC+ meeting caused the oil to prices nosedive.
The oil market has become uncared for, he said, adding that the prices will not be corrected as long as there is no management.
Predicting a further decline in the prices, Khatibi said every country is now producing as much oil as it wants to.
He also noted that Saudi Arabia is one of the parties bearing the brunt of such a drop in the oil prices, saying that the “price war” between Saudis and Russians seems to go on.
The former Iranian envoy also did not rule out an emergency meeting of OPEC in the near future.
Oil prices have plunged dramatically after OPEC’s failure to strike a deal with its allies regarding production cuts caused Saudi Arabia to slash its prices as it reportedly gets set to ramp up production, leading to fears of an all-out price war.