Iran’s Oil Minister to Visit U.A.E. After Oil Prices Drop Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh will travel to the U.A.E. this week as part of a tour to find ways to prevent crude prices from falling even more. Zanganeh plans to discuss oil prices and market developments with officials in the United Arab Emirates on Nov. 18 before OPEC meets on Nov. 27, according to Shana, the website of Iran’s oil ministry. Zanganeh is on a tour after visiting Kuwait and Qatar last week where he discussed strategies to avert a further decrease in crude. Brent crude, a benchmark for more than half of the world’s oil, has plunged 31 percent since peaking this year at $115.71 a barrel in June as supply outpaced demand. Iran’s revenue from crude sales, its biggest export, dropped 30 percent because of the decline in oil prices, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Oct. 29. Iran needs to achieve a break-even sales price of $143 a barrel this year to maintain its fiscal balance, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Falling oil prices are straining state budgets of members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, including Iraq, which is leading a costly war against Islamist militants, and Libya, which is struggling to keep crude output steady amid political divisions and violence. Libya and fellow OPEC states Venezuela and Ecuador have called for action to stabilize crude prices. Libya’s OPEC Governor Samir Kamal said Oct. 22 that the group must cut daily output by 500,000 barrels as the market is oversupplied by about 1 million barrels a day. This reflected his personal view, he said at the time. Saudi Oil Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter and the biggest producer in OPEC, has not answered calls by other members for action to stem the price collapse and said that prices should be regulated by supply and demand. The kingdom remains committed to seeking a stable oil price and speculation of a price war between crude producers has no basis, the kingdom’s oil minister, Ali Al-Naimi said Nov. 12. “Certain countries had raised their production after the exit of several countries from the cycle of oil production,” Iran’s Zanganeh said, according to Shana. “Now it is difficult for them to reduce their production for the market stability and they fabricate different pretexts for their action,” he said, without identifying the countries. OPEC producers have stepped up their diplomatic visits before the group’s meeting in Vienna, potentially seeking a consensus on how to react to oil prices at a four-year low. Iraqi President Fouad Masoum and Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni flew to Riyadh last week for separate talks with Saudi officials. Rafael Ramirez, Venezuela’s foreign minister and representative to OPEC, held talks in Algeria and Qatar, while Saudi Arabia’s Al-Naimi toured Latin America.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 12:56:13 +0000
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