Iran: OPEC should control oversupply

Iran’s Oil Minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari has called on the OPEC to discuss the excess supply of crude in its upcoming summit in Vienna.

“Oil supply should be in proportion to market demand. The control of crude oversupply by OPEC is an issue which should be discussed in the organization’s next summit,” Nozari told IRNA news agency.

Ministers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are scheduled to meet in Vienna on Sep. 9 to review the group’s output policy.

“Some OPEC members’ oil output is more than their quota. Therefore, these members will be asked in next week’s meeting to stop their excess production,” Nozari said.

Despite the OPEC decision to maintain crude output levels, member-state Saudi Arabia said in June that it would raise production from 9.45 million barrels per day (bpd) to 9.7 million bpd, the Kingdom’s highest level since 1981.

Nozari said on Sunday that $100 per barrel was the lowest suitable price for oil, adding that Saudi Arabia was not the only OPEC member to have affected prices by increasing production.

Crude prices have dropped from a record high of over $147 a barrel in July to about $108 a barrel in world markets.

The Iranian oil minister said a sharp drop in oil prices would paralyze some producers due to the high cost of maintenance for production facilities.

“I think crude oil will preserve its market for at least the next 30 years and find its appropriate price. Oil demand is on the rise,” he concluded.

(Source: Press TV)

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