Iran Calls on OPEC to Scale Down Oil Output
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh on Monday urged member states of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut crude output to boost prices to a range of $70 to $80 a barrel.
“OPEC should decide to manage the market by reducing the level of production,” Zangeneh said on the sidelines of an oil forum and exhibition in Tehran on Monday, Bloomberg reported.
He added that “no one is happy” with prices at current levels.
“We won’t seek permission from anyone for our production,” Zanganeh stressed.
“We will bring our production back to the market, and the market will absorb it. All of those OPEC members whom I speak with welcome this," he added.
Back on October 7, Seyed Mehdi Hosseini, head of Iran's Oil Contracts Restructuring Committee said that 50 new oil projects would be introduced in Iran this year.
"Immediately after sanctions are lifted, maybe we within some months we can add at least 500,000 barrels per day (bpd). It does not take that long," Hosseini said.
"After that we are targeting another 1 million. Maybe in less than a year we can come to our pre-sanction capacity of around 4 million bpd,” he added.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) on July 14 reached a nuclear deal dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that would terminate all sanctions imposed on Tehran over its nuclear energy program after coming into force.
On Sunday, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini in a joint statement issued voiced their commitment to the implementation of the JCPOA.
The promising prospect of trade with Iran has prompted many countries to explore the market potential in the populous Middle East nation.
