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Iran Oil Minister says Happy with Quota in OPEC | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran’s oil minister said on Sunday he was “happy” with his OPEC crude quota, even though the new output target from November is lower than Iran’s estimated production in August.

“Surely, we are happy,” caretaker Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari told a news conference when asked whether Iran was satisfied with its output target.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed on Sept. 11 to boost output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) on top of August pumping rates, effective Nov. 1.

But the November targets for Iran and the United Arab Emirates were below August levels, based on production estimates for last month cited by OPEC.

Iran’s Nov. 1 target level was set at 3.817 million barrels per day, a drop of 52,000 bpd on August output estimates. Iran’s August output was above its target under previous agreements made last year by OPEC to reduce output, according to Reuters estimates.

In response to comment that Iran’s output was to fall from November, Nozari said only: “Who says Iran’s quota has been reduced?”

Nozari said Iran had the capacity to produce 4.2 million barrels per day of oil.

“In our next meeting in Saudi Arabia, we have an opportunity to review the market. And we have an extraordinary meeting in December, which will provide an opportunity again to review the market,” Nozari said.

OPEC oil ministers next meet before an OPEC heads of state meeting in Saudi Arabia on Nov. 17-18. The ministers meet again on Dec. 5 in Abu Dhabi.