Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has predicted a considerable rise in surplus income from oil sales by the end of the Iranian calendar year on March 20, 2002.
"Computed revenues from crude and its products hit $25 billion in the past Iranian year, which was the highest so far," the official Iranian news agency (IRNA) quoted Hamshahri as saying.
“After normalization of ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the two leading OPEC members, the cartel has emerged more united and has improved its status in the international oil market,” he was quoted as saying.
"Over the past four years, 50 billion barrels of oil and 12,000 billion cubic meters of gas have been added to the national reserves," Zanganeh said.
Last week, Zanganeh said that there was no need for OPEC, which meets next month, to adjust its output, since the current price of crude was good for both consumers and producers.
"At this point of time, at this level of price, I don't think that we need to do anything more," Zanganeh said.
OPEC is to meet in Vienna June 5-6 to review production levels.
Other OPEC members have said “the group is unlikely to agree to a raise in output at the Vienna meeting, although there have been calls from some Western consumers for increased supplies.”
The International Energy Agency (IAE), the West's energy watchdog, called on OPEC at the end of April to increase its output for the second half of the year as stocks are built for winter.
OPEC's basket price has been hovering within the group's $22-$28 per barrel target range for its basket of seven crudes – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
