Iran said yesterday it supported moves by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Venezuela and Russia to stabilise the oil market and raise prices.
Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh’s comments came after he met his Qatari, Iraqi and Venezuelan counterparts in Tehran.
Qatar currently holds the revolving chairmanship of the Opec group.
Zanganeh spent around two hours with the team including Qatar’s Minister of Energy and Industry and Opec president, HE Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada, and oil ministers from Iraq and Venezuela. The visitors flew in from Doha, where the deal to freeze output deal was clinched on Tuesday.
“We had a good meeting today and the report of Tuesday’s meeting was given to us,” Zanganeh told Iranian media later. “We support co-operation between Opec and non-Opec members,” he said.
“I was told that Russia as the world’s biggest oil producer, Oman and other countries are ready to join. This is a positive step, we have a positive approach to it, this is a good start,” he added.
A US- and European-imposed embargo had flattened Iran’s oil sales but Tehran, which has the world’s second-largest crude reserves, has ramped up production since sanctions were lifted last month upon implementation of a deal with world powers to limit its nuclear activities.
Opec member Saudi Arabia and Russia, which is not a member of Opec, said their agreement in Doha on Tuesday to freeze output at January levels was conditional on other major producers doing the same.
While welcoming the move, Zanganeh signalled it alone was not enough to resolve the problem of low prices for producers.
“This is a first step but we need others. We look forward to the start of co-operation between Opec and non-Opec countries,” he was quoted as saying by the oil ministry’s news service, Shana.
“We support any measure that can stabilise the market and increase prices.”
At around 1630 GMT Brent North Sea crude for April delivery was up $2.08 at $34.26 and West Texas Intermediate for March delivery was up $1.56 at $30.60.
IRAN
