Iran denies drop to OPEC 5th producer

Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi dismisses rumors of Iran having dropped to the fifth biggest OPEC producer.

“We do not confirm a fall in Iran’s oil production and this issue is untrue,” Qasemi said in Tehran on Monday.

Secondary sources in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries have claimed that Iran’s OPEC status has fallen due to a fall in its crude oil production.

Qasemi said Iran remains the second largest OPEC producer behind Saudi Arabia, adding that the country will see its output rise over the next years.

The minister also said Iran was unhappy with the current prices.

“At present, the crude prices in the market do not meet our expectations and we do not make a favorable assessment of the trend of [oil] prices,” Qasemi noted.

“In our view, the minimum price in the world oil market is USD 100 [a barrel] and under the present circumstances, prices above USD 100 are reasonable and fair from Iran’s standpoint,” he stated.

Qasemi said OPEC would discuss current oil prices and future fluctuations during its ministerial meeting scheduled for May 31 in Vienna.

He added that price fluctuations were partly due to the arrival of summer.

Crude prices were down in Asian trade on Monday in reaction to OPEC’s decision last week to boost production from 29.93 million barrels a day in March to 30.21 million in April.