[caption id="attachment_25054" align="alignright" width="300"] Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi talks to journalists on the sidelines of the Tehran Oil and Gas Show on April 17, 2013.[/caption]
Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi says crude prices are unlikely to fall below USD 100 a barrel and that the downward trend has stopped.
“We forecast that the price of oil will not fall below USD 100 a barrel,” Qasemi told reporters on Wednesday on the sidelines of an Oil and Gas Show in Tehran.
“…oil prices below USD 100 per barrel is not reasonable and it’s an unreasonable price,” he said.
Qasemi added that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) would envisage calling an emergency meeting if prices fall below USD 100.

“We are monitoring oil prices in the world markets and in case the prices drop below USD 100, negotiations will be held with other OPEC members to hold an emergency meeting,” the minister stated.

Meanwhile, Iranian Oil Ministry spokesman Ali Reza Nikzad Rahbar said Iran favored oil prices between 100 and 120 dollars.

“Iran has strategic inventory of crude oil and aside from controlling the oil price, it is capable of managing the global market for this product,” he added.

Nikzad Rahbar said Iran can produce 4.2 million barrels per day of crude oil, noting that the country’s current output is enough to meet the world market’s demand.

OPEC is set to hold a ministerial meeting in Vienna on May 31.

For the first time since July 2012, oil futures prices have fallen below USD 100 a barrel for benchmark Brent blend.

By Press TV

 

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