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Iranian Minister Warns of Oil Prices Fall in 2001
Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has warned of a sharp fall in oil prices during the second and third quarters of 2001 due to oversupply by major oil producers.
If the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) carries on its current production of 26.2 million barrels per day, oil prices will sharply fall, the minister was quoted as saying by local media on Saturday.
He said that OPEC should then act to cut its production over the said period, but did not say by how much.
Moreover, Zanganeh said that the oil market had been faced with a supply surplus of 2 million barrels per day over the period from March 20 to August 20, and the problem of excess supply would be more serious if no proper measures were taken.
OPEC oil ministers agreed in September to raise their daily oil output by 800,000 barrels from the original ceiling of 25.4 million barrels per day.
It was the third time in a year that the oil cartel had decided to raise output to bring down the soaring crude prices. Reports say OPEC members are to meet again on November 12 to assess the oil market.
As OPEC's second largest oil producer, Iran's current output stands at some 3.84 million barrels a day, under its quota within the organization.
Iran's Majlis (parliament) Budget Committee said last week that the surge in oil prices had earned the country some 6 billion U.S. dollars additional proceeds over the first half of the current Iranian calendar year starting on March 20 and the sums can reach 10 billion dollars by the year end.
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