No price war in OPEC after Saudi price cut: Zanganeh

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has rejected speculations that Saudi Arabia’s recent decision to lower its crude prices has triggered a war on oil prices among OPEC member states.

“There is no oil price war in the [crude] market,” said the Iranian minister on Tuesday, adding that the move by certain countries to reduce their crude prices does not imply the outbreak of a price war.

Zanganeh further said “OPEC has currently no plan to hold an emergency meeting to look into the slide in prices of black gold in the international market,” calling on the leading member states of the 12-nation organization to cut their crude output to help shore up the falling prices.

Earlier this month, the Saudi Arabian Oil Company unilaterally decided to lower official oil prices during upcoming November without consultation with other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

According to Reuters, the kingdom lowered its selling price by USD 1 a barrel for Arab Light crude in Asia. Riyadh also cut prices to Europe and the US by 40 cents a barrel.

Following Riyadh’s move, Brent, the global oil benchmark, slid 1.2 percent to USD 92.31, the lowest price since June 2012.

On October 5, the Wall Street Journal quoted unnamed OPEC officials as saying that Saudi Arabia’s decision came after a similar move by Kuwait to lower prices for delivery this month without informing the 12-member organization.