Eurasia Press & News
TEHRAN (FNA) – Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said on Thursday that oil markets were well supplied and he saw no need for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to boost production at its meeting on Friday.
“I think the market is well supplied and it’s not necessary to raise output,” he told reporters on his arrival in Vienna.
OPEC members have so far offered little hope for consumer nations seeking more supply from the producer group to bring crude prices down from $90 a barrel, brushing off calls from the United States to open the taps to help its slowing economy.
The 13-member cartel that controls around half the world’s oil exports appears more concerned about defending crude prices, even if that slows demand.
A senior Iranian oil official also told a newspaper that there was no need for OPEC to increase oil output, as warmer spring weather was approaching and extra crude would not bring down prices.
“In regard to (the approach of) the spring season and a decrease in consumption, there is no need to hike output,” the Iran daily newspaper quoted Hojjatollah Ghanimifard, international affairs director at the National Iranian Oil Company, as saying.
OPEC decided against an official increase when it last met in December but analysts say demand strength has lured more oil from the Saudis.
