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Iran unlikely to support oil freeze plan at OPEC June meeting

Business Materials 26 May 2016 11:50 (UTC +04:00)
Iran is not expected to support the oil freezing plan at the upcoming meeting of the OPEC, which is scheduled for June 2, Parviz Mina, former member of OPEC Long-Term Strategy Committee, told Trend May 25.
Iran unlikely to support oil freeze plan at OPEC June meeting

Baku, Azerbaijan, May 26

By Umid Niayesh - Trend:

Iran is not expected to support the oil freezing plan at the upcoming meeting of the OPEC, which is scheduled for June 2, Parviz Mina, former member of OPEC Long-Term Strategy Committee, told Trend.

The upcoming OPEC meeting will probably be a scene to see whether Iran will continue its ongoing output increase policy or it will prove to be more of an OPEC member to help improve prices by supporting output freezing plan.

Iran's oil production has reached 3.4 million barrels per day and Tehran plans to increase it by another 400,000 to 500,000 barrels per day by the end of the year, therefore it will not agree to freezing production, said Mina.

"There is also another reason for objecting to such plan," Mina said, explaining that freezing production is demanded by Saudi Arabia, which is now considered as an adversary by Iran.

The Islamic Republic has defied calls from other oil producers to hold its output at the January levels.

Iran says since it suffered a decline from 2.3 million barrels per day of crude export to 1 million barrels per day under sanctions, it is entitled to seek its old quota before considering any freeze.

Plans for a deal between OPEC and non-OPEC producers to shore up crude prices by freezing output fell apart in April when Saudi Arabia demanded that Iran, its main rival for influence in the region, participates as well. Iran's refusal caused crude prices jump by 2 percent on March 14.

Tehran, however, has boosted crude output at the expense of the prices. The oil-dependent country is severely short of incomes, and is still fighting the foreign pressure.

Follow the author on Twitter: @UmidNiayesh

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