Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Tuesday called on certain crude exporters to lower excess production to give Tehran back its share of the market, cautioning that Tehran will soon start with 1mbpd of exports under any condition.
"We are back and those exporters who have been firm to fade out the role of Iran in the international market and presently export eight to 10 million barrels of oil per day should prepare themselves to give our global stake back," the Iranian minister said in a press conference in Tehran today.
Zanganeh underscored that Iran intends to cause no shock to the international oil market, but said, "Even in case Iran doubles the volume of its daily oil exports and the prices break in half, Tehran will incur no financial losses."
The oil minister, elsewhere in the news conference, elaborated on the present situation of Setare Khalij Fars Refinery and said that 85 percent of the project has been carried out and less than one billion dollar is required to get the refinery completed in near future.
Answering a question on the Indians' partnership in Farzad-B gas Field, Zanganeh explained that some technical negotiations have been conducted with Indians in this regard but legal talks will be held in future.
He also announced that Iran is hashing out exports of gas from Salman field which has been under debate for years due to the 25-year Crescent contract with Sharjah signed in 2001.
Saudi Arabia was blamed by most OPEC members for declining prices in the market due to its over-production way beyond the OPEC ceiling specified for the Arab state.