TEHRAN Feb 07(Shana)–“The Islamic Republic of Iran prefers to continue its membership in OPEC even though the recent decisions made by the organization had not been in line with our views”, Iranian Minister of Petroleum, Bijan Nanmdar Zangeneh said.
Elsewhere in his remarks he elaborated on the reasons behind falling oil prices stating fundamentals (supply and demand) were the main reasons behind falling prices.
Oversupply is mainly to blame for fallen crude oil prices although political factors have also had an effect, Reuters quoted him as saying.
“There is no doubt about political factors having an effect to sustain the situation; but at what percent, one cannot say for sure,” he said.
Tasim News Agency also quoted Iranian Minster of Petroleum’s remarks on political reasons behind falling oil prices reporting “Iran’s oil minister said political reasons have played a key role in the continued declined of global oil price, adding that the US and its allies are trying to deal a blow to the Iranian and Russian economy using the low oil price.”
Speaking to Islamic Republic of Iran News Network (IRINN), Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said political factors have “undoubtedly” had a role in the oil price slump, but underlined that “market fundamentals” (supply and demand) were the main reasons behind the global decline in prices.
“In this regard, he (Obama) announced that Russia’ economic growth has faced a crisis following the decline in the oil price and that the US was able to exert pressure on the country (Russia) over Crimea and Ukraine using the policy (oil price decline),” Zanganeh added.
Press TV highlighted Zanganeh statements on gasoline self-sufficiency quoted him as saying “Minister of Petroleum Bijan Namdar Zangeneh says Iran will need no more gasoline imports next year when a major refinery being built in the Persian Gulf becomes operational.”
Gasoline stood out as the handiest lever when the United States first started its economic strangulation of Iran over the country’s nuclear energy program.
The production of petrochemical gasoline was halted after President Hassan Rouhani came to office and imports resumed after Iran clinched a temporary nuclear agreement.
Zangeneh said he was “not worried” about gasoline and diesel supplies next year.
“And with the entry of one train of the refinery into generation, 12 million liters per day will be added to the country’s gasoline and diesel production. Half of this capacity is enough to dispense with gasoline imports next year,” Zangehen added.
Iran is building the Persian Gulf Star Refinery in Assalouyeh at an estimated cost of 2.5 billion euros. The plant is further expected to produce 360,000 barrels per day of gas condensates on top of jet fuel and other products.
Meanwhile AzerNews quoted Iranian Minister of Petroleum as saying that although OPEC’s recent decision was not in line with Iran’s wishes, the Islamic Republic should maintain its ties with the organization.
Zanganeh made the remarks while commenting about OPEC’s decision last November to maintain its output level.
In the first half of 2015, there are about 2 million barrels of extra crude supply a day compared to demand, Zanganeh said. However he said that political factors also were effective in crude price fall.
By SHANA
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