The two ministers said Monday that they will act “together or in cooperation with other oil producers” and agreed to set up a “joint monitoring group” to offer recommendations to prevent price fluctuations.
Advertisement
Secretary-General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Mohammed Barkindo and Iran’s oil minister met in Tehran on Tuesday to discuss global oil prices ahead of an OPEC informal meeting due to be held in Algeria mid-September.
Last Monday, Saudi Arabia and Russian Federation sealed a deal to cooperate in the oil market especially reducing oil output; this deal led to a sharp lift in prices.
Russian average oil production rose close to 11 million bpd during September 1-7, industry sources told Reuters, from 10.71 million bpd in August.
Zangeneh said most members of OPEC want the price of crude oil to be between $50 and $60 per barrel. At 1:00 PM EDT on Tuesday, the WTI crude oil futures contract for October delivery was trading at $44.36 per barrel, a drop of ~0.18%.
Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, Khalid al Falih, indicated however he believed Iran’s production was already high enough.
London Brent crude for November delivery was down 4 cents at $47.22 a barrel by 2018 EST, after settling down 37 cents on Tuesday.
“It’s not a coincidence that both countries are producing at the moment so a freeze wouldn’t be that big a stretch but I’d say that, given how well the oil price responds to any rumor or murmur of a looming agreement, why not go ahead and have another meeting?”
“Oil production amounted to 10.71 million barrels per day in August 2016, although it was down 1.6 per cent month-on-month”.
“Iran agreed to cooperate only if fellow exporters recognised its right to increase market share to past levels.” .
Iran’s oil minister says Tehran would support any decision by OPEC that would add stability to the global oil market.
Advertisement
The previous attempt at reaching a deal in April was scuppered by OPEC member Iran’s refusal to agree to any production freeze, and there are worries about the chances of a deal in Algiers. That level is “slightly” above 4 million barrels a day, and Iran may reach it by the end of 2016 or early next year, Mohsen Ghamsari, director for worldwide affairs at state-run National Iranian Oil Co., said Thursday in an interview in Singapore.
