Iran will try to persuade Saudi Arabia to cut oil production when oil ministers from the two Opec members meet this week in Vienna, according to a TV interview with the country's oil minister.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) meets on Thursday to set its output policy and some of its members have called for output cuts to shore up oil prices.
Brent crude oil has lost about 30 per cent of its value since June to around $80 a barrel because of abundant supplies and weakening demand.
However, an agreement on an Opec output cut at this week’s meeting is uncertain. Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, has yet to say whether it supports one.
Russia – the world’s biggest energy exporter – does not plan to cut oil production to shore up prices, the Russian energy minister Alexander Novak was quoted as saying on Saturday.
Russia, which relies on oil and gas for about half its total federal budget, has been hit this year by a fall in global oil prices as well as by Western sanctions over its role in the Ukraine’s crisis.
“Opec can’t balance the market alone. This time, Russia, Norway and Mexico must all come to the table. Opec can make a cut, but what will happen is that non-Opec supply will continue to grow. Then what will the market do?” said former Qatari oil minister Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Attiyah, commenting on the forthcoming meeting. – (Bloomberg/Reuters)
