Iran has called on countries which are non-members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to participate in cutting oil output.
Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh told reporters on Wednesday that it was not only up to the organization to deal with growing market oversupplies, saying non-OPEC producers needed to cooperate as well in limiting oil production.
“To deal with this situation we need to have a contribution from non-OPEC producers for managing the market,” Zanganeh told reporters upon arrival in the Austrian city of Vienna for the OPEC meeting.
His remarks come as the 166th ministerial meeting of OPEC is scheduled to be held in Vienna on Thursday, November 27, to discuss sharp reduction in oil prices.
Meanwhile, non-members Russia and Mexico along with two OPEC countries Saudi Arabia and Venezuela met on Thursday to address a growing oil glut.
Oil prices have plunged this year, with analysts putting the blame on the rise in the value of the US dollar and the unlikely chance that the intergovernmental OPEC body might cut crude output.
OPEC is a Vienna-based intergovernmental organization of 12 oil-producing countries, which groups Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Kuwait, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.
OPEC members pump about 40 percent of the world’s oil with Iran being currently the organization’s third-largest oil producer.
On Tuesday, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for January delivery rose nine cents at USD 75.87, while Brent crude for January fell eight cents to USD 79.60 in afternoon trade.
Non-OPEC members must participate in oil output cut
Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh says it is not only up to OPEC to deal with growing market oversupplies, adding non-OPEC producers should to cooperate to limit oil production.
