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Iran says Russia’s demand from OPEC+ on condensates rightful

Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh arrives for the 177th Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting in Vienna, Austria, on December 5, 2019. (AFP photo)

Iran has backed Russia’s request from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that oil condensates should not be included in the country's overall output figures as others suggest Moscow is violating a pact meant to reduce the global supply.

Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Thursday that Russia was rightfully demanding ahead of a meeting with OPEC members and others, a grouping known as OPEC+, that condensates should be excluded from output figures if quotas set by the organization are to be properly respected in the future.

Russia will insist during the Friday meeting that condensates, a very light form of oil, are not exported and are merely produced to meet a surging domestic demand in the country.

“Our issue in the OPEC is not the condensates but it is crude. It is not fair that we ask Russia to observe what we do not have in OPEC calculations and equations” said Zanganeh. 

 

“Although Russia is not an OPEC member, but it should be treated the way other OPEC members are treated,” he added.

Reports in November suggested that Russia’s oil output had exceeded 11.18 million barrels per day (bpd), violating a cap of 230,000 bpd imposed by OPEC+.

Moscow insists the condensates should be exempt from the cap if OPEC members want to finalize deeper cuts during the Friday meeting.

Iran, along several other countries, has been exempt from OPEC’s current supply cut of 1.2 million bpd.

Zanganeh said that Tehran, still a key OPEC member despite sanctions that have affected its output, would support further cuts in the upcoming meeting.

“If the agreement for reduction of output is extended, it will be an achievement for the OPEC,” said Zanganeh, adding, “And if it (production) is further reduced, I would support it as it would be an even bigger achievement.”


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