Energy
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Rouhani: Reclaiming Pre-Sanctions Oil Share Vital

Iran's president says the 14-member organization has a responsibility to stabilize market and Iran will support efforts to bring about fair prices
Iran's crude output is slightly more than 3.8 million barrels per day.
Iran's crude output is slightly more than 3.8 million barrels per day.
Iran has targeted an 8% economic growth and is counting on big oil and gas investments to drive its planned economic boom

President Hassan Rouhani says he supports efforts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to stabilize oil prices, while reiterating that the country must restore production lost during years of sanctions.

“Iran had suffered greatly under sanctions,” Rouhani said, according to a statement on OPEC’s website.

Therefore it is “vital for the country to make up its lost oil production”, he said at a meeting in Tehran on Tuesday with OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo, Bloomberg reported.

The 14-member organization has a responsibility to restore market stability and Iran will support efforts to bring about fair prices, Rouhani said at the meeting, which was also attended by Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh.

Rouhani’s comments come, as Russia and Saudi Arabia—the world’s biggest crude producers—said on Monday they would cooperate to stabilize oil markets, while stopping short of specific measures to achieve that.

Speculation has mounted in the past month that OPEC nations and Russia may reach an agreement to freeze production when they hold informal talks in Algiers at the end of September.

A previous attempt to freeze output failed in April after Saudi Arabia insisted Iran must join the coordinated effort. Tehran rejected that proposal because it sought to reclaim the lost market share after sanctions over its nuclear program were lifted in January.

“Iran will support any measure toward market stabilization and oil price recovery that is based on a fair and just share for member countries,” Rouhani said after the meeting in Tehran, IRNA reported.

Iran has increased crude output by more than a quarter this year, reaching 3.62 million barrels a day last month, according to a Bloomberg News survey.

  Foreign Investment

Iran needs to open up its market to foreign investment to achieve its projected economic growth after being unshackled from international restrictions six months ago, Ali Kardor, the head of state-owned National Iranian Oil Company said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Relying on domestic financial resources won't get us anywhere past a 5% economic growth. This will make us remain in the same position we are now at, in terms of welfare and economy," he said.

The Rouhani administration has targeted an 8% economic growth and is counting on big investments in its key oil and gas sector to drive its planned economic boom.

"Our neighbors have made considerable economic inroads over the past few years by prioritizing the attraction of foreign investment and we need foreign investment to realize the 8% growth," he said.

In an effort to bring back foreign companies to its oil sector, Iran has been working on a new model of contracts that includes more attractive terms and conditions for investment and partnership. Tehran hopes to bring in more than $100 billion in foreign investment to develop its hydrocarbon fields and strengthen its footmark as a top crude exporter.

Iran used to be the second-largest producer of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries before the tightening of economic restrictions in 2011 and 2012, pumping around 4 million barrels a day. Sanctions significantly cut production and exports, as Iran slipped to fifth place.

Iran has added around 1 million barrels to its daily production since the removal of sanctions in January, ramping up production to slightly more than 3.8 million barrels a day. It is currently OPEC's No. 3 producer after Saudi Arabia and Iraq who produce around 10.6 million bpd and 4.6 million barrels of oil per day respectively.

Financialtribune.com