EMEA News
Crude Prices Continue to Plummet As Iran Says OPEC Needs to "Make Space" for its Increased Production
Crude prices Thursday tumbled for a second day and made their biggest drop in a week after Iran told members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to make room for additional supply, an estimated possible additional 1 million barrels a day, that the country intends to produce within six months of sanctions being removed, Bloomberg reports.
OPEC "needs to open space for us if it wants prices to stay the way they are," said Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, the Oil Minister for Iran.
Although OPEC is said to be over-producing by as much as 2.5 million barrels per day, as reported by Asdrubal Chavez, Energy Minister for Venezuela, OPEC is expected to decide to maintain its production ceiling at its Friday meeting in Vienna, Austria.
Bloomberg says that OPEC pumped 31.58 million barrels a day in May, exceeding its ceiling for the 12th consecutive month.
Miswin Mahesh, an analyst for Barclays Plc says, "the view coming out of OPEC is hardening that there won't be a cut which is adding to pressure on prices, as the surplus will remain."
"The Saudis could have been more disciplined with their output but instead have produced at 10.3 million to 10.4 million barrels a day."
Crude futures plummeted similarly earlier this week, when on Wednesday, crude futures fell based on original speculation that Fridays OPEC meeting will result in no change to current production levels in the Middle East.
