Iran: No Need for OPEC to Increase Production

TEHRAN (FNA) – Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said Tuesday that there’s no reason for OPEC states to increases oil production.

“There is no reason for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to raise output as we are approaching the warm season,” press tv quoted Nozari as saying ahead of OPEC’s meeting in Vienna on Friday, February 1.

The West, including the United States, has stepped up pressure on OPEC members to increase oil production to combat persistently high energy prices that many economists believe have slowed the US economy. OPEC supplies about 40% of the world’s oil.

Oil fell 20 cents to $90.79 per barrel in mid-day Tuesday trading. Heating oil declined about 1 cent to $2.52 per gallon, unleaded gasoline fell 1 cent to $2.31, and natural gas declined 5 cents to $8.04 per million BTUs.