Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Namdar Zanganeh will not attend this week�s meeting among leading global oil producers to cut production, Iranian media reported Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) � The Organization of�the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members and non-OPEC oil producers are expected to�discuss freezing oil output to�curb oversupplies on�Sunday, April 17, in�the Qatari capital of�Doha.

"#Iran #oil minister will not attend #Doha oil #freezing_meeting but�Iran's representative will make it," the Seda weekly energy magazine�s senior analyst tweeted without�naming the replacement.

The analyst said that Zanganeh, in�a letter to�Qatari Energy Minister Mohammed Saleh Sada, reportedly pledged that Tehran would continue ramping up�productions until�reaching pre-sanctions levels. Energy-related sanctions began to�be gradually lifted after�UN nuclear watchdogs verified Iran�s compliance with�last summer�s landmark agreement curbing the Islamic republic�s nuclear program.

In February, the energy ministers of�Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Venezuela, and Russia discussed the current oil market situation in�Doha and agreed to freeze oil production at�January levels if other countries followed suit, in�a bid to�keep the oil prices from�falling further.

Oil prices saw major declines from $115 per barrel in�mid-2014 to $41.54 per barrel for�WTI Crude and $44.24 per barrel for�Brent as�of early Wednesday.

By Sputnik News