Iran traditionally sets monthly prices to customers in Asia – its biggest market – in parallel with Saudi Arabian crude prices, yet for March it offered buyers its supplies at a discount of 10 cents per barrel compared to Arab Medium, a Saudi grade of similar quality.
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“OPEC is assumed to respond to the stronger growth in tight oil by increasing its own production in order to maintain its market share”, BP said in a report.
“We support any form of dialogue and cooperation with OPEC member states including Saudi Arabia”, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh told reporters.
While non-OPEC production levels are roughly flat from one year ago, at 32.6 million barrels per day (mbd) last month, OPEC supplies were up by 1.7 mbd from a year earlier.
With a shortfall of 250,000 barrels per day, Nigeria’s oil revenue target fell by $7.5 million per day (at $30 per barrel), translating to $232.5 million in January.
Crude oil remained below the $28 price level keeping stress on the global markets.
Friday’s jump came after a Middle East energy minister of an OPEC country said the producer club was willing to talk with other exporters about cutting output.
Oil is down 26 percent this year on speculation a global glut will persist amid the outlook for increased exports from Iran after the removal of worldwide sanctions and brimming USA crude supplies.
Top oil merchant Vitol also said this week that it expected a slowdown in global oil demand growth from 1.6 million bpd past year to 800,000 to 1 million bpd in 2016.
The lowest crude-oil prices in a decade are starting to hurt the global economy and aren’t increasing consumer demand for gasoline and other petroleum products as much as expected, OPEC said on Wednesday. Further stock-building of 300,000 barrels a day is forecast in the second half of the year.
“We’re grinding lower on bearish fundamentals”, said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodity analyst at SEB in Oslo.
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“Oil prices are recovering slightly from the heavy losses they suffered” on Monday, said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch.
