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Saudi Energy Minister: Asian Consensus on Oil Production Levels Present | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih addresses a news conference after a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, Austria, December 10, 2016. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader


Dubai- Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Khaled al-Falih said there is a present consensus within Central Asian countries on managing oil markets and production levels.

While touring Central Asian countries, Falih tweeted that there is an agreement with the region on the need to commit to oil production cuts.

For his part, Iran’s oil minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh said on Saturday that his country received positive indicatives from OPEC countries and others to extend the production cut, which Tehran will be also supporting.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is scheduled to meet in May to discuss oil supply policy.

Oil prices fell last week, despite closing at a higher rate on Friday, all of which was based on growing hopes that OPEC may agree to extend the production cut long enough to further reduce the glut.

Zangeneh told reporters that Iran has received positive signals from OPEC states along with non-OPEC producers agreeing that the production cut has been extended till the second half of 2017.

The Iranian energy minister blamed the Tehran’s low foreign investment on the United States, citing unilateral sanction imposed for impeding contracts with international oil companies.

“They (the United States) cannot stop us,” he said.

“No one can stop our activities concerned with developing the oil and gas sectors, but … they sure can decelerate our efforts,” he commented.

When it signed the landmark deal in 2015, Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program in exchange for lifting most of the international economic sanctions it suffered.

But many foreign investors still face obstacles when reviewing prospects of investment in Iran, such as US-imposed sanctions.