Iran's Oil Minister says it would be "unsuitable" for both producers and consumers for oil to
dip below US$100 a barrel, the AP reported.
Gholam Hossein Nozari was speaking on the sidelines of an international gas conference in Tehran, and has been urging fellow members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, not to pump too much oil and avoid a drop in prices.
Nozari says oil producers have been pumping around 400,000 barrels per day more oil than the market needed.
The international economic crisis together with high fuel prices have hurt consumption in the United States and other industrialized nations.
Light, sweet crude for November delivery fell below US$94 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday, a sharp decline from the record US$147 a barrel in July.