EMEA News
Iran: Full Return to International Oil Market Not Negotiable
Iran's oil minister said today that his country's full return to international oil markets following the impending lifting of sanctions is not negotiable, Platts reports.
Bijan Zanganeh, upon arriving in Vienna for the December 4 Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Ministerial talks, remarked, "We don't see our production increase and return to the previous level in the market and our global supply as negotiable at all."
Only when Iran fully returns to the international market will it discuss new output ceilings or individual country quotas, he said.
The oil minister was responding to a report from Energy Intelligence in which a senior OPEC delegate said Saudi Arabia was preparing a proposal for an eventual 1 million barrels per day (bpd) output reduction and that Iran would be expected to participate in the reduction.
Zanganeh said, "We don't accept any discussion about the increase of production after the lifting of the sanctions: it is our right and no one can limit us to do so.
"We don't expect our colleagues in OPEC to put pressure on us to continue sanctions against Iran: it is not acceptable and it's not fair."
Zanganeh also blamed OPEC countries that have increased production for the 60 percent drop in oil prices: "This is the responsibility of the OPEC member producers and others who have produced more than the approved ceiling."
As previously stated, Zanganeh said his country would maintain its plan to boost output by 500,000 bpd immediately upon the lifting of sanctions early next year: "And very soon after this first jump we can reach 1 million bpd.
"And, totally, it means we will be close to 3.8 million-3.9 million bpd total production."
Platts earlier this year reported that Iran's post-sanction oil production increase could have a significant impact on international oil prices.
