“I have said it before that I have no problem with extending the agreement to cut production or even go ahead with further cuts,” Zangeneh said after arriving in Vienna for the oil cartel’s 176th meeting where they are expected to decide on cuts they agreed to in previous meetings.
Zangeneh argued he is against the unilateralism of Russia and Saudi Arabia making decisions outside the bounds OPEC describing it as organization’s “biggest threat.”
“Iran will not leave the OPEC but I believe that the OPEC will die,” Zangeneh warned when asked If Iran would leave the cartel if Saudi Arabia and Russia continue undermining the organization.
Zangeneh said that Iran was “officially” exporting “nothing” to Europe without clarifying further but refused to comment on the Islamic Republic’s oil exports to China.
Russia and Saudi Arabia, the two top global oil exporters, agreed in late 2016 to attempt to manage global oil output in order to stabilize prices by cutting around 1.2 million barrel per day (bpd). The deal came into effect in 2017 and since then the benchmark crude Brent oil price has oscillated between $45-85 per barrel. Russia has benefited from the pact since 2017 increasing Russian revenue by more than 7 trillion rubles ($110 billion).
The 14-nation cartel will meet on Monday in the Austrian capital to discuss the output before gathering on Tuesday for OPEC+, a group of 24 oil-producing countries which include Russia which has cut production by more than 1.2 million bpd that was agreed upon.
The 14 OPEC member nations control 35 percent of the global oil supplies with the figure rising to 55 percent with the addition of non-OPEC nations — led by Russia, Mexico and Kazakhstan.
“A clear message from our first look at 2020 is that there is plenty of non-OPEC supply growth available to meet any likely level of demand, assuming no major geopolitical shock, and the OPEC countries are sitting on 3.2 millions of bpd of spare capacity,” stated the International Energy Agency in June.
Iranian officials have said that the Islamic Republic is facing its most difficult test ever since it was established in 1979 as the return of penetrating and ever expanding US sanctions since November on its economy means the country is losing its main source of revenue as oil exports drop sharply.
