Iran Will Help Rebalance Oil Market Only When Output Hits 4 Million bpd

Bijan Zanganeh says his country's oil exports will rise to 2 million bpd in the month ending March 20

Declaring “they should leave us alone”, Bijan Zanganeh, oil minister for Iran, said the Islamic Republic won’t consider participating with other countries in rebalancing the global oil market until it boosts crude output to 4 million barrels per day (bpd), according to a comment quoted by the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA).

That would be the highest level of production since August of 2008; according to Bloomberg data, Iran's February output was 3 million bpd.

Zanganeh also told the ISNA that his country's oil exports will rise to 2 million bpd in the month ending March 20, a slight increase from February’s 1.75 million bpd.

Meanwhile, Amir Hossein Zamaninia, deputy oil minister for commerce and international affairs for Iran, told Seda Weekly that his country will attempt to boost output by 1 million bpd by June: “Iran maintains its right to increase its oil production until it reaches its pre-sanctions level,” he said, adding that the oil market should be “relatively balanced” within a year.

The ministers' comments caused WTI crude to trade down $1.32 to 37.18 U.S. per barrel on Monday, and in citing the oil glut's impact on prices in general, Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy consultancy Ritterbusch & Associates, remarked that  "We feel that the bulk of this stronger than expected 5-6 week price advance has been seen and that prices will be shifting.”

Zanganeh was reportedly in talks with Alexander Novak, energy minister for Russia, on Monday, but the topic of discussion hasn’t been disclosed, and nor has the complete itinerary of an impending Russian business delegation to Tehran that Novak is leading.

According to Iranian officials, Iran has sold only 4 million barrels of oil in total since the sanctions were lifted in January; this is equal to five days' worth of sales at pre-2012 levels.