Iran will send Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, its representative in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, to a meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC producers in Doha, Qatar, on April 17. The statement confirms that Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh will skip the highly-anticipated meeting on Sunday, which is aimed at discussing a plan to freeze oil production to shore up prices. The absence of Iran's top oil official sends a strong signal that the Middle East nation is not willing to accept the freeze deal just yet despite mounting pressure from rival producer Saudi Arabia. Russia and Saudi Arabia, world's top oil producers who have been pumping at record-highs in recent months, reached an agreement in February to freeze production at January levels. But in a shift of policy, a top Saudi official said the kingdom would freeze production only if Iran joins the pact. Iran says it is open to the idea only after reaching its pre-sanctions production level of 4 million barrels.
