Iran supports 'any decision' to stabilise oil market: minister

Bijan Zanganeh says $55 per barrel brings desired, economic and beneficial oil production revenue for Opec members

TEHRAN: Iran's oil minister said on Tuesday that the Islamic republic supports "any decision" to stabilise the global oil market and that $50-60 per barrel is the desired price for most Opec members.

"Iran supports any decision by oil producers to return stability to oil markets. The desired price for most Opec members for oil is between 50 and 60 dollars," said Bijan Zanganeh, according to the ministry's Shana news agency. He was speaking after a meeting with OPEC secretary-general Mohammed Barkindo in Tehran.

Zanganeh said $55 per barrel "brings desired, economic and beneficial oil production revenue for Opec members, while their competitors won't be able to increase production." Opec members are due to hold an informal meeting in Algiers later this month to discuss a possible freeze in production to boost prices.

Iran briefly triggered a spike in prices late last month when it announced it would participate in the meeting, but Zanganeh stated on August 26 that Iran wanted to return to its pre-sanctions share of the crude market before considering any kind of cap.

"Iran will cooperate with Opec on improving prices and the state of the crude market, but we expect our right to restore our lost market share in the market to be considered," he said at the time, according to Shana. Tehran says it has doubled its exports of oil and gas to 2.7 million barrels per day (bpd) since signing a nuclear deal with world powers that ended sanctions in July last year.

Its total production has risen from 2.7 million bpd to 3.85 million bpd, close to the level before international sanctions were imposed in 2012. A previous Opec attempt to freeze output collapsed in April -- three months after the nuclear deal came into effect -- largely because of Iran's refusal to join talks.