Iran to propose Opec oil cut of 1.5-2 million bpd - report

Tehran: Iran will propose that a 1.5 million to 2 million barrels per day (bpd) oil cut at the next Opec meeting to be held in Algeria on December 17, Iran's oil minister was quoted as saying on Sunday.

Ministers of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are expected to announce an output cut at the Algeria talks to shore up prices that have plunged about $100 a barrel since a July peak. On Friday oil was trading around $46 a barrel.

"Iran's proposal for this week's Opec meeting in Algeria will be a reduction of between 1.5 million and 2 million bpd," Irna reported its oil minister, Gholamhossein Nozari, as saying.
The decision to cut output was deferred to this month during November's meeting in Cairo.

"The ground for a serious reduction existed in the Cairo meeting," the Iranian minister said.

Nozari said Opec needed to cut production by 1.5 million to 2 million bpd to prevent a drop in prices next year.

"The proposal for this level of output cut is in order to establish a balance in the market for oil supply and demand," he was quoted as saying.

"Otherwise we will have oversupply in the first and second quarter of the coming year, which will go into stocks and will mean we are confronted with an additional oil price drop in the market next summer," he added.