Iranian oil minister heads to UAE to discuss decline in oil prices

Iranian oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh is preparing to visit the UAE this week to discuss the circumstances regarding the fall in oil prices and how to address this matter, after holding similar meetings with Kuwaiti and Qatari officials last week, according to Iranian state media.

Alamat Online news reported on Monday that the Iranian minister said he had visited Kuwait and Qatar to start holding regular meetings about the oil market, especially to discuss the decline in prices, before the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting.

Zanganeh also stated that he exchanged opinions with the Kuwaiti and Qatari officials regarding the matters associated with what will be discussed in the next OPEC meeting on 27 November.

According to Bloomberg news agency, Zanganeh is expected to visit the UAE later this week.

“Certain countries have raised their production after the exit of several countries from the cycle of oil production,” the news agency quoted Zanganeh as saying. “Now it is difficult for them to reduce their production for the market stability and they fabricate different pretexts for their action,” he added, but without identifying the countries.

Last week witnessed heightened diplomatic activities as the OPEC countries began to put all their cards on the table before their oil ministers meet at the end of this month to discuss a steep decline in the price of oil, about 30 per cent, putting the economies of many countries in danger.