The OPEC meeting in Vienna concluded yesterday without a clear agreement on the oil-output strategy due to differences in approach
In a Reuters report, Iran is said to have insisted on raising its production steeply. Iran wanted to bring the production to levels before the imposition of the Western sanctions over Iran’s nuclear programme.
Iranian oil minister Bijan Zanganeh wanted the debate to focus on individual-country production quotas rather than a collective output ceiling.
On the bright side, discussions were much smoother than ever before between Iran and Saudi Arabia with the latter promising not to accelerate production and seeking to mend relationships within the organisation.
Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih said, “We will be very gentle in our approach and make sure we don’t shock the market in any way. There is no reason to expect that Saudi Arabia is going to go on a flooding campaign.”
The Saudi government had earlier stated that it plans to join the previous deal (regarding global production freeze) only if Iran agreed to freeze output as well.
