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Tehran: Iran, the second biggest producer in the Organisation of Petro-leum Exporting Countries (Opec), is reviewing how much oil it pumps, but no decision has been taken on any changes, oil minister Gholamhossein Nozari said on Tuesday.
Nozari did not give a reason why it was carrying out the review of production, which hit 4.203 million barrels per day (bpd) in March, the highest level since its 1979 Islamic revolution. "So far we have not decided to decrease output. We are reviewing the issue. The result of this review could lead to an increase or decrease of production," he was quoted as saying by the Shana website.
Demand
"The amount of production and oil supply will be in proportion to the market's demand," he said.
Iran's Fars News Agency said yesterday Nozari had rejected talk of a cut.
Earlier, Fars quoted a source saying Tehran would begin curbing output next month, probably by between 400,000 bpd and one million bpd.
Refiners in Asia, customer for around 60 per cent of Iranian crude, said they have not been informed of any output cuts.
Meanwhile, Iran's long-serving Opec governor Hossein Kazempour Ardebili would be replaced by senior Iranian energy official Mohammad Ali Khatibi, an oil ministry source said on Tuesday.
At the same time, senior management at the state-run National Iranian Oil Company attended a scheduled annual meeting in Tehran on Tuesday, an industry source said.
Bijan Khajepour, head of Atieh Bahar Consulting in Tehran, said he did not believe Iran would reduce output. He said Iran would lose international clients and that the country did not have enough capacity to refine the crude itself.
Storage: Ship booked
Iran has booked a supertanker to store up to 270,000 tonnes of crude oil for up to 90 days, shipbrokers said on Tuesday.
The National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), had booked the very large crude carrier (VLCC) Universal Prime for delivery into the Middle East during June 3-6.
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