Azernews.Az

By Nigar Abbasova

The Islamic Republic of Iran, the third-largest producer in OPEC, supports any measures aimed at stabilizing the “black gold” market.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani announced about this following his meeting with OPEC’s new secretary-general Mohammed Barkindo, Ria Novosti reported.

He said that Tehran backs any efforts by OPEC to stabilize oil prices in case the measures are based on fair imposition of quotas on output.

“Iran had suffered greatly under sanctions. Therefore it is vital for the country to make up its lost oil production,” he said.

Barkindo, for his part, stressed that the role of Iran in OPEC is very high, underlining the importance of cooperation between the cartel members in the process of tackling problems that occurred in the market.

The sides also discussed the issue of putting ceilings on oil production, which will be discussed in the forthcoming Algeria meeting, scheduled for September 26-28.

Barkindo, who is trying to gain support for the plan of production freeze earlier met with Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh and permanent representative of Iran in OPEC Hossein Kazempour Ardabili.

Iran, the country which possesses tremendous hydrocarbon resources, is currently recovering from years of sanctions, while majority of analysts say that the country is in the touching distance from reaching its pre-sanctions level.

Meanwhile, Director for International Affairs at NIOC (National Iranian Oil Company), Seyed Mohsen Ghamsari said that that Iran is ready to raise its oil production to 4 million barrels per day (bpd) in the next two to three months depending on market demand.

Rouhani’s comments followed the agreement between Russia and Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude producers, on certain measures to be taken with a view to stabilize the market, tackle weak prices and rein of oversupply.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin earlier said that oil producers recognize that Iran deserves to complete its return to world markets, and it would be unfair to leave it on the sanctioned level.

The recent developments mounted speculation that OPEC nations and Russia may reach an agreement to freeze production.

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Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

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