High Oil Prices, No OPEC Plot: Zangeneh

Date: 23 April 2018 - 20:52

News ID: ۵۲۱۳۰

TEHRAN (Dispatches) - Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh has dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump's recent-OPEC remarks, saying current oil prices have nothing to do with the oil producer group.
"Looks like OPEC is at it again. With record amounts of oil all over the place, including the fully loaded ships at sea. Oil prices are artificially very high! No good and will not be accepted!” Trump wrote on Twitter, according to Reuters.
Referring to Trump's recent tweet accusing OPEC for artificially boosting the prices in the oil market, the Iranian official said, "By such remarks, Trump addresses a certain group of Americans who may be unhappy with rising oil prices, while he would approve of increased prices."
Speaking to the Iranian ministry of petroleum official news website, Shana, Zangeneh said, "Our back-channel information suggests that Trump favors increasing prices so that he can ramp up U.S.'s crude and tight oil output as well as the country's tax income to generate more jobs."
The senior Iranian oil official described Trump's stance towards oil prices as dubious, saying, "On the one hand, Trump tries to improve the price of oil while, on the other, he blames OPEC for the upward trend of prices which do not have to do with the organization."
The Iranian Minister of Petroleum said Trump has reached an understanding with certain OPEC members, not all of them, for keeping the prices high.
Trump’s tweet came shortly after officials from top oil exporter Saudi Arabia said they would like to see prices climb even higher and that they were still far from their goal of ending the supply glut, Reuters said.
U.S. oil prices are near a three-year high, at close to $70 a barrel, and have been rising since OPEC and non-OPEC producers including Russia cut supply in January 2017 to end a global oil glut and price collapse.

Iran’s Crude, Condensate Exports Recover From March Dip
Meanwhile, Zangeneh said Iran's crude and condensate exports have recovered from a fall in March and currently stand at 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd).
"The decline in March was a temporary issue. It has increased now and currently all together we export 2.5 million barrels of oil and gas condensates," Zangeneh told state TV.
March liftings from Iran, the third-biggest producer among the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), were down 26 percent year on year.
Iran has been working to regain market share after Western sanctions over its disputed nuclear program were lifted in 2016 under a deal between the country and six major powers.
But U.S. President Donald Trump has warned European signatories of the accord to fix "the disastrous flaws" in the pact or face a U.S. exit.
On May 12, Trump will decide whether to restore U.S. economic sanctions on Tehran, which would be a severe blow to the pact.
"We have to wait for Trump's decision. But Iran will use all its capacity and experience to protect the country against the consequences of Trump's decision," Zangeneh said.
********Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh