Oil could rise to $55 if all producers cooperate: Iran

DUBAI: Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh expressed optimism yesterday about an upcoming OPEC meeting and said crude prices could jump to $55 a barrel if an agreement is reached and non-OPEC producers cooperate.

“We are receiving positive signals that increase the likelihood of agreement at the meeting ... and I’m optimistic about the situation,” Zanganeh told state television by telephone, after meeting OPEC SecretaryGeneral Mohammed Barkindo in Tehran ahead of the Nov 30 meeting.

“I think if we can reach an agreement, God willing, the price would rapidly reach above $50 per barrel ... If non-OPEC (producers) also cooperate, I don’t think $55 per barrel would be out of reach.” Benchmark Brent crude rose by 37 cents to $46.86 per barrel on Friday. Asked about an OPEC proposal for an output cap of 3.92 million barrels per day for Iran, Zanganeh said: “We have not reached any agreement. We have expressed our views and we look forward to explaining them.”

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is moving closer towards finalising its first deal since 2008 to limit oil output, with most members prepared to offer Iran significant flexibility on production volumes, ministers and sources said on Friday. Iran has been the main stumbling block for such a deal because Tehran wants exemptions as it tries to regain oil market share after the easing of Western sanctions in January.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s exports from the Kirkuk oil field through an export pipeline to Turkey have dropped because of power outages, an official at state-run North Oil Co said yesterday. Export are currently running at 100,000 barrels per day (bpd), compared with 133,000 bpd in October, the official said.

The pipeline delivers crude to Turkish terminal of Ceyhan, on the Mediterranean. It also carries crude produced in fields developed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), an autonomous region in north Iraq. OPEC’s second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia, Iraq exports most of its oil through the southern ports, on the Gulf.

Total exports for September, including the KRG, were 3.871 million bpd, of which 3.276 million bpd were shipped from the southern ports, according to the last figures published by the nation’s state-oil marketer SOMO, in October.

North Oil resumed exports through the Kurdish-controlled pipeline in August, after a five-month halt caused by a dispute on oil revenue sharing between Baghdad and the KRG. — Reuters