TEHRAN (TCA) — Iran’s Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said his country will take part in discussions on a possible oil production freeze after Iran’s oil output reaches 4 million barrels per day, PressTV reported.
“I have already announced my view regarding the oil freeze and I’m saying now that as long as we have not reached 4 million (barrels per day) in production, they should leave us alone,” Zangeneh said on March 13.
“When we reach this level of production, we can then cooperate with them,” he added, referring to Russia and Saudi Arabia which have agreed to a production freeze provided that other major producers followed the suit.
Iran is trying to regain its market share after the removal of sanctions.
“We do not intend to sanction ourselves again after coming out of the sanctions,” Iran’s Deputy Petroleum Minister Amir Hossein Zamani said last month.
Zangeneh said he was satisfied with oil at $70 a barrel, but “if the oil price goes below this figure, no problem will arise” for Iran.
The minister said he expects Iran’s crude oil exports to hit 2 million bpd by March 20.
The country exported 1.75 million bpd last month, the largest since 2012, which came after the lifting of the sanctions on the country, the minister told reporters.
