Sputnik - US President Donald Trump�s request for Saudi Arabia to step up its oil output to 2 million barrels per day to offset the rising oil prices may be seen as a call for the kingdom to withdraw from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its agreements, Iran�s OPEC governor Hossein Kazempour Ardebili said Saturday.



�Putting aside the fact that Saudi Arabia has no such capacity to�bolster its crude output, this demand could be inferred as�an order for�the kingdom to�walk out�of OPEC,� Ardebili said, as�quoted by�the Shana news agency.


Earlier in�the day, Trump wrote on�Twitter that he had spoken to�the Saudi king about�the need to�increase Saudi Arabia's daily oil production to�2 million barrels due to�the unstable situation in�Iran and Venezuela, stressing that King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud agreed with�the proposal.

Meanwhile, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) did not mention any agreements regarding an increase in�daily oil output while reporting about�the telephone conversation between�Trump and King Salman.

Last week, OPEC countries and other major oil producers that participate in�the 2016 Vienna cut deal agreed during�a meeting in�the Austrian capital to�increase production to�1 million barrels per day, that is the volume of�the countries' over-compliance with�the agreement.


OPEC countries and other major oil producers initially reached an agreement at�the end of�2016 to�reduce oil output by�1.8 million barrels per day compared to�October 2016. The deal, aimed at�boosting oil prices, was prolonged twice, with�the last extension set to�last until�the end of�2018.