Iran to Attend Doha Oil Talks without Output Freeze

Iran will attend talks with fellow OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) members and Russia in Qatar next month without joining their proposal to freeze crude oil production, a report said.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh will attend the discussions in Doha on April 17, said a person, who asked not to be identified as the talks are private, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

Earlier, Zangeneh dismissed any freeze agreement that would apply to Iran as “ridiculous” because the nation aims to revive production after anti-Tehran sanctions were lifted following the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran and six world powers on January 16.

Iran now reportedly produces around 3.1 million bpd of oil. The sanctions had cut crude exports from a peak of 2.5 million bpd before 2011 to just over 1 million bpd in recent years.

Iran’s attendance means all 13 members of the OPEC except Libya are scheduled to take part in the freeze talks. Non-OPEC oil producers Argentina and Brazil don’t plan to join the talks.

While an initial accord in February between Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Russia and Venezuela to cap production at January levels temporarily helped revive oil prices, analysts believe a freeze would have little impact even if more nations join.