Iran will call on the world”s oil cartel at its extraordinary meeting next week to cut oil output by further 2 million barrels per day, Iranian Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said on Sunday.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is set to hold an extraordinary meeting in Algeria on December 17 to decide on further reductions in oil production amid declining world oil prices. Non-OPEC oil producers Russia, Oman, Azerbaijan, Syria and other countries have also been invited to the summit.
Nozari said Iran would propose to OPEC members to reduce output by 2 million barrels per day as this proposal would enable OPEC to make a balance between supply and demand.
World oil prices have fallen by more than 60% from a record high of $147 per barrel in July to under $50, as the global credit crunch has reduced the demand for fuel.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday that Russia could join OPEC in cutting output, and suggested the country could join the oil cartel given the importance of oil prices to the economy and government finances.
Russia and OPEC together account for more than half of global oil production.
