Business | Oil & Gas

Channel Sponsor

Iran will not increase oil output, says minister

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) will not boost oil output as such a move would increase reserves, Iran's oil minister said on Saturday.

  • Agencies
  • Published: 10:09 May 17, 2008
  • Gulf News

  • The United States has urged Opec members to increase their output of oil to control the rising oil price.
  • Image Credit: Gulf News Archive

Tehran: Iran on Saturday said it will not increase oil output and dismissed Saudi Arabia's decision to boost oil output as a "political move", an Iranian news agency said.

Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari was speaking a day after Saudi Arabia announced a modest increase in output after an appeal from visiting US President George W. Bush.

Nozari said any production hike among members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) would only lead to an increase in reserves.

The Fars News Agency quoted Nozari as saying that Saudi Arabia's action “is more of a political move ... this action will only help to increase reserves."

Iran is the second-largest oil producer in Opec, after Saudi Arabia.

Iran has repeatedly said the market is well-supplied with crude and blamed the rising oil price on the weak US dollar and other factors outside Opec's control.

The United States is also leading moves to impose sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme, which Iran insists is for peaceful purposes.

  • Rate this article
  • Average reader rating (0 votes) 0 Stars
Tools

Emailing an article to friend is a simple way to share a news item. Your friend will receive an email with your name and email address as well any personal message you choose to send.

The information you provide on this page will not be used to send unsolicited emails.

This service is not intended to encourage spam, and action may be taken against individuals who maliciously enter personal details of another individual.

Share this article

Related Articles

  1. Bush presses Saudis to raise oil output

    Bush presses Saudis to raise oil output

  2. Saudi pledges to meet oil demand

    Saudi pledges to meet oil demand

    Saudi Arabia pledges to meet oil demand on Bush's plea

More from Oil & Gas

  1. Saudis certain to adopt DME crude benchmark

  2. Warm US weather cools crude below $80

  3. Structure of oil market must meet Opec's and Russia's needs

  4. Saudi Arabia: Feeding off an evergy boost

All articles in Oil & Gas

More from Business

Gulf News
Popular in Business
Airlines in the region
Budget travel

Airlines in the region

Take a pictorial look at some of the budget airlines in GCC

Business Editor's choice