Under the freeze, countries would have agreed to limit their production to certain levels in a bid to raise oil prices by constricting the amount of crude on the market.
Advertisement
Iran will take part in an informal meeting of OPEC countries in Algeria next month, state media reported on Thursday.
Zanganeh had given a brief boost to world prices on Thursday after announcing he would attend the informal OPEC meeting in Algiers on a possible output freeze with non-cartel producer Russian Federation in late September.
Asked about an oil output freeze plan, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh also said that Iran supports any effort to bring stability to the market.
Zanganeh’s remarks to the ministry’s Shana news service on August 25 helped spur a jump in oil prices, with premium crude rising 62 cents to $49.67 a barrel in London trading.
Oil prices had rallied last week and entered a bull market – a 20 per cent rise from recent lows – after OPEC and Russian Federation announced plans to discuss the supply crisis, which has hammered the crude market for more than two years.
It goes without saying that the argument trotted out by Iran will be the same one used by all other OPEC members, most of whom are not in the same position as Saudi Arabia, and instead have seen their oil production decline in recent months, most notably Nigeria and Venezuela. Iran had ruled out a ceiling on its production until it recovered the output levels it had before the US and European Union tightened global sanctions on its oil industry in 2012.
Iran says it has doubled its exports of oil and gas to 2.7 million barrels per day (bpd) since signing an accord with world powers in July 2015 that removed sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme.
The ongoing gradual pivot to a rebalance, spurred by declining production in non-OPEC countries as a result prolonged low prices, might also give major producers further justification to leave the output alone and let the market run its course, said Tim Evans, a Citi Futures analyst.
Advertisement
The International Energy Forum (IEF) will be held in Algeria on September 26-28. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
