“The market is in a good situation,” Iran’ Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said in an apparent response to a statement made on Monday by Algerian Energy Minister and OPEC Chairman Chakib Khelil that OPEC states have “considerable excess oil capacity that would be able to satisfy any increase in demand for crude.”
OPEC is scheduled to hold its next meeting in September and “We are heading towards winter,” Mr Nozari noted. “I think that preserving the current situation is the most appropriate one.”
Certain economic and political reasons explain Tehran’s stance.
Economically, high oil prices mean higher revenues for a country largely dependent on oil (and gas) sales to Western consumers.
Politically, Iran can use oil as a weapon to resist international sanctions imposed as a result of its nuclear programme.