Reuters: Iran's oil minister said a crude price of $80 a barrel would be an appropriate level for the development of oilfields in producing countries, the Oil Ministry website SHANA reported on Tuesday.
TEHRAN, May 26 (Reuters) – Iran's oil minister said a crude price of $80 a barrel would be an appropriate level for the development of oilfields in producing countries, the Oil Ministry website SHANA reported on Tuesday.
Gholamhossein Nozari was speaking as he departed from Tehran for a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna on Thursday.
He did not say what he believed OPEC should decide at the May 28 meeting, saying it would depend on the level of supply and demand and market conditions as well as the level of stocks in consumer countries.
Iran's OPEC governor Mohammad Ali Khatibi has made clear he thinks production should be cut again, but he said in remarks published on Monday the possibility of the group taking such a step was remote.
According to SHANA, Nozari said a crude price of $80 was appropriate for oilfield development, well above today's level of around $60. " … the current crude prices are still not appropriate for the development of oilfields in producing countries," he said.
OPEC has previously agreed to reduce production since September by about 4.2 million barrels per day, or about 5 percent of world supply. It is estimated to have delivered around 80 percent of those cuts so far.
But while crude prices have roughly doubled from lows reached in December, they remain nearly 60 percent down from their peak of $147 a barrel in July 2008.
Nozari said Iran "was observant of its quota commitments in OPEC." (Reporting by Hashem Kalantari; Writing by Fredrik Dahl; editing by James Jukwey)
