Iran Unperturbed by Fall of Oil Income: Envoy
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Tehran is not concerned about the fall of its oil revenues as crude oil will be traded at prices between $35 to $50 a barrel in 2016, Iran's national representative to Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said Wednesday.
"The oil prices in the next year (2016) will fluctuate between $35 to $50, so Iran is not worried about a fall of its oil income," Mehdi Asali said, Reuters reported.
"OPEC members should find a solution to (fall of oil prices) as this situation is not economically in their interest... Saudi Arabia has said it would only cut its oil production if Iran, Iraq and Russia do so," Asali added.
He also predicted that global demand for crude oil will exceed 94 million barrels per day in 2016, and that the price of oil will not surpass $60 per barrel before 2020.
Because of overproduction chiefly by Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC producers, there is currently up to 2.5 million bpd of excess oil in the market which has caused crude prices to lose around 60% of their value since mid-2014.
OPEC introduced output ceiling of 30 million bpd in its December 2011 meeting as it scrapped allocating fixed production quotas to member countries. The group, however, has been producing nearly a million more barrels than its ceiling for the past 16 months.
