Tehran has asked the 12-nation OPEC cartel of oil producers to cut its total oil production to stay within the daily quota, Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh said Saturday, Press TV reported.
"The OPEC is extracting [more oil] than the allowed quota. I asked them to cut oil output to meet the quota. But it does not mean that we will not be producing more oil because it is our right to come back to the market," Zangeneh has been quoted as saying by Sputnik news agency.
The current OPEC quota stands at 30 million barrels of crude a day. Iran said earlier today it planned to boost oil production by 1 million barrels a day within the next 5-6 months.
"I do not expect a new agreement [on the quota] to be made on December 4," he added.
OPEC member countries are due to meet on 4 December to assess the bloc's production policy and the global oil market, months after their June decision not to cut oil production despite a slump in global oil prices.
Iran's oil minister stressed that Iranians "do not need a permission to restore our oil production levels" as seen prior to the 2012 sanctions.
Tehran has been vying to regain its oil market share since its nuclear deal with world powers in July in exchange for removing sanctions on Iran's energy and financial industries.
Zangeneh said in early September that Iran is determined to reclaim its share in global oil markets once sanctions imposed on the country's energy sector are lifted.
"Immediately after lifting sanctions, it's our right to return to the level of production we historically had," he said, adding, "We have no other choice."
He noted that the country will raise its output by 500,000 barrels per day soon after sanctions are lifted and by one million barrels per day within the following five months.