Iran dismisses oil production freeze as 'joke': minister
[TEHRAN] Iran's oil minister on Tuesday dismissed an output freeze deal between the world's top two producers Saudi Arabia and Russia as "a joke", the ISNA news agency reported.
"Some neighbouring countries have increased their production over the years to 10 million barrels per day and export this amount, then say let's all freeze our oil production," Bijan Zanganeh said.
"They freeze production at 10 million bpd and we freeze at 1 million bpd. This is a very funny joke." In a bid to stabilise an oversupplied market, Russia and OPEC members Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Qatar announced Tuesday that they had reached a preliminary deal to freeze output at January levels, provided that other major producers followed suit.
The news sparked hopes the market would stabilise after sinking to near 13-year lows last week on the stubborn supply glut - but disappointed those looking for an output cut.
Iran, which has the world's second-largest crude reserves, has increased production since a deal with Western powers ended sanctions over its controversial nuclear programme.
Zanganeh said in response to the freeze announcement that "there is room for discussion" but that it "won't relinquish" market share.
AFP
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Energy & Commodities
Gold flat ahead of US payrolls data, set for second weekly drop
Oil settles near 7-week lows, focus shifts to economy
Exxon-Pioneer deal gets green light from US FTC, Pioneer exec barred from board
Shell maintains pace of buybacks as profit beats estimates
Gold prices drift higher as Fed stands pat on key interest rate
Oil falls to 7-week low on surprise US storage build, Middle East hopes