Roundup: Iran urges convergence among OPEC members for market gains

Iran's Minister of Petroleum said that the upcoming Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) meeting may be successful if members considered economic interests without raising controversial political issues, reported the semi-official Fars news agency on Tuesday.

"The ordinary meeting of OPEC members in Vienna on Nov. 30 will bear the desired fruits if discussions will be held based on economic and business views and all the members remain committed to what was agreed upon in Algiers in September," Bijan Namdar Zanganeh was quoted as saying by Fars.

On Sept. 28, OPEC members agreed during an impromptu meeting in Algeria to cut crude oil production by 750,000 barrels per day (bpd) in order to raise crude oil prices.

For the first time OPEC nations reached a preliminary agreement since the global financial crisis eight years ago, which is to reduce the global production of crude oil which has decreased oil prices for over two years, weakening the economies of oil-producing nations.

The preliminary deal has limited OPEC's output to between 32.5 million bpd and 33 million bpd.

However, it would be difficult to agree if political issues are raised during the meeting, said Zanganeh, expressing hope that oil will not be used to serve political purposes.

"As a founding member, Iran has always cooperated with the organization strongly and has always struggled to play an influential role in the body," said the minister.

On Sunday, Zanganeh said Iran hopes a deal could be reached during Wednesday's meeting of OPEC's member states to cut crude oil production.

"The discussions show that OPEC can reach a sustainable agreement over its production and the management of the market" Zanganeh was quoted as saying by Press TV.

"If we reach an agreement, which I'm optimistic we will, prices will rise. This is what the international economy also demands," Zanganeh said on the sidelines of a meeting with visiting Algerian Energy Minister Noureddine Boutarfa.

Algeria had previously proposed cuts of 1.1 million bpd for OPEC members and 600,000 bpd for non-OPEC producers.

Iran carefully studied Algeria's proposal regarding each country's production and will present its views on the proposal during OPEC's meeting in Vienna on Wednesday, Zanganeh said.

He added that his talks with the Algerian energy minister revolved around a plan to exempt Iran from OPEC's production cut scheme.

Meanwhile, Boutarfa said that if OPEC members agree, oil prices will reach 50-60 U.S. dollars per barrel by next year.

Last month, Zanganeh urged non-OPEC producers to cooperate with OPEC in order to stabilize the market.

Oil prices increased substantially on Monday and both Iraq and Iran expressed their willingness to cut crude oil output, reports said.

Oil prices initially plummeted by as much as two percent, but later spiked after media reported that Iraq's oil minister said Iraq will cooperate with OPEC to reach an agreement acceptable to all.

In addition, on Monday Russia President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart acknowledged the importance of finalizing an OPEC output cut deal in order to stabilize the global oil market.

The West Texas Intermediate for January delivery added 1.02 dollars, settling at 47.08 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for January delivery increased by 1 dollar, closing at 48.24 dollars a barrel on London's ICE Futures Exchange. Endit