Iran has not decided to cut oil output yet: Min. of petroleum

Iran’s Minister of Petroleum Bijan Namdar Zangeneh says the Islamic Republic has not yet decided to cut its crude oil production.

Zangeneh made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Press TV on Monday, amid plummeting oil prices, which have slowed global economic growth.

The Iranian minister of petroleum further said there is a “political agenda” that is preventing global oil prices from recovering.

Earlier on January 13, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Iran would not be pressured by the sliding oil prices, noting that oil revenues account for only one third of the country’s budget.

Iran has put the crude oil price at USD 72 a barrel in its draft budget for the next Iranian calendar year (starting March 21).

Zangeneh further said that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), of which Iran is a member, has made no decision on its production level.

Oil prices have fallen more than 50 percent over the last six months due to a glut of supplies by certain countries such as Saudi Arabia and weak demand as a result of lackluster global economic growth.

The OPEC, which pumps out about 40 percent of the world’s oil, has so far refrained from cutting its production to balance the market mainly due to opposition from Saudi Arabia.The body produces 30 million barrels of oil per day. 

At the end of December 2014, Saudi Arabia declared a huge budget deficit for its 2015 fiscal year as the oil-rich kingdom has begun to feel the impact of the falling oil prices. Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud announced the USD 38.6-billion budget deficit on state-run television.