AFP: Iran, the number-two OPEC exporter, on Thursday spoke out against any hike in the cartel’s output, saying there was enough oil in the market despite prices approaching 100 dollars a barrel.
TEHRAN (AFP) Iran, the number-two OPEC exporter, on Thursday spoke out against any hike in the cartel’s output, saying there was enough oil in the market despite prices approaching 100 dollars a barrel.
“All the evidence shows there is enough oil in the world’s oil market and increasing OPEC’s quota will not have an impact on the global oil price,” Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA.
Nozari, who was leaving Tehran for an OPEC heads of state summit in Riyadh starting Saturday, blamed “depreciation of the value of the dollar” as one of the major reasons for the sky-rocketing prices.
World oil prices rebounded strongly on Wednesday after OPEC chief Abdallah al-Badri rejected US calls for the oil producers’ cartel to boost output to help cool the market.
New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for December delivery, surged 2.92 dollars to close at 94.09 dollars per barrel.
In London, Brent North Sea crude for December delivery rose a hefty 2.53 dollars to 91.36 dollars.
OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia sought on Tuesday to reassure oil consumers and calm markets amid the soaring prices, saying fears of insufficient supplies are “groundless.”
