Non OPEC oil output rise reason for price fall, says Iran

Iran’s oil Minister said on Sunday that the increase of crude production by non OPEC member countries has had an adverse impact on oil prices, the official IRNA news agency reported.

“Although OPEC has lowered its production ceiling several times, non-OPEC producers have increased their oil output with negative impact on crude prices,” Masoud Mirkazemi was quoted by IRNA as saying.

OPEC member countries will meet in Angola on Dec. 22 to decide on its oil production policy and Iran has said OPEC does not need to increase production.

OPEC’s reference crude oil basket price fell to $76.77 a barrel on Thursday, from Wednesday’s $77.87, OPEC said on Friday. Oil prices hit a high for this year of $82 a barrel in late October, marking a roughly 150 percent recovery from a low of $32.40 hit in December last year.

Tags:  Iran, OPEC, OPEC member