Iran sees oil output freeze as new ban on itself

Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh on Monday described a plan to implement a freeze on the output of key oil producers as a “new sanction” against the country’s oil industry. 

Zangeneh, talking to the state radio, said certain oil producers had been trying to prevent the removal of sanctions against Iran. To the same effect, he said, they have been trying to keep the prices of oil at low levels by producing extra supplies of oil over the past years beyond the market demand.

“Such measures have nonetheless led to the saturation of the oil market and deteriorated the instability in the market with a surplus of two million barrels per day,” the Iranian minister has been quoted as saying by the media.

He further added that the same producers are responsible for the instability in the market but are now trying to pin the blame for the low oil prices on Iran’s post-sanctions production.

Zangeneh said those producers are delusional to think their anti-Iran efforts bear any fruits.

“They are trying to portray Iran as the country responsible for the instability in the oil market,” he said. “This is while Iran has had no role in the instability of the market.”

The Iranian minister said the proposed output freeze which is now being discussed in Doha between key OPEC and non-OPEC producers is meant to keep the production of all oil major at the same level that existed in January 2016.

This, he said, is a new sanction on Iran. “In other words, they want to take Iran’s production back to the sanctions era.”

Zangeneh said Iran supports all efforts to return stability to the oil market, stressing that the Islamic Republic will spare no effort to that connection.

He said it is necessary for all major producers to continue their discussions to find a way to help the stability of the oil market.

However, he emphasized that the argument by certain producers t hat Iran’s post-sanctions production is to blame for the volatility of prices “cannot be accepted by anyone”.

By Press TV

Source Article from http://theiranproject.com/blog/2016/04/18/iran-sees-oil-output-freeze-new-ban/

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