SHANA – Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said Tehran and Caracas are ready for carrying out any measure aimed at stabilizing global oil markets.

Speaking following a meeting with his Venezuelan counterpart Eulogio Del Pino in his Tehran office on Wednesday, Zangeneh said enhancing mutual energy ties and discussion over current oil market conditions were the highlights of his meeting with the Venezuelan oil minister.

"Fortunately, compliance of members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) with the body's output cut plan has been acceptable," he said.

He said the compliance of OPEC members with the plan has been 98% in August, adding, "the level of compliance will increase in the future."

Zangeneh said the market reaction to OPEC-non-OPEC agreement has been "good", adding, "During this meeting, we discussed oil market stability and attraction of cooperation of non-OPEC producers in order to ensure further stability in the market."

In a deal aimed at clearing the glut, OPEC is curbing output by about 1.2 million bpd, while Russia and other non-OPEC producers are cutting half as much, until March 2018.

He also said that extension of the production cut plan through June 2018 was another highlight of his meeting with Del Pino.

"More discussions on the plan will be held at the October 4 meeting of oil and energy ministers of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in Moscow," he added.

"We are prepared for any measure aimed at ensuring oil market stability, anyway."

Compliance with Output Cut Plan

Asked about compliance of non-OPEC producers to the cut plan, Zangeneh said Russia is the most important producer among non-OPEC countries that have joint the agreement, adding "We will talk with Alexander Novak, Russian Energy Minister, in Moscow about extension of the plan.

"Commitment of non-OPEC producers to the plan has been good but more heed must be paid to their conditions."