Iran’s Bijan Zanganeh made the remarks on the sidelines of a meeting with the Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak in Tehran.
When asked whether despite the oil production cut by OPEC and non-OPEC members, the rise in America’s commercial oil reserves and drilling rigs would be deemed a threat to the oil freeze deal, the official refuted that possibility saying “any further rise in crude prices, despite adding to OPEC’s revenues, will prove detriment to OPEC in the medium term.”
He maintained that an upsurge in crude output would actually increase oil production of OPEC’s rivals asserting “majority of OPEC members have reached a consensus over oil process of 55 to 50 dollars per barrel and any additional figure would cause global process to plummet in the medium term.”
Oil Minister Zanganeh stressed that in the absence of unexpected events in 2017, the oil market will reach equilibrium as a balance will emerge in supply and demand.
On Donald Trump’s Picking of Exxon Mobil's Rex Tillerson as the new US secretary of state, the official explained “with Donald Trump taking the office as new US president, conditions will certainly improve for American oil activists.”
“Above politics, the new US secretary of state enjoys a long hand in oil industry,” underscored the Iranian official.
He underlined that Rex Tillerson for years served as CEO of one of America’s biggest oil companies and new developments are therefore awaiting the crude oil sector.
At the end of his remarks, Bijan Zanganeh urged OPEC to exercise great cautious in the face of future developments in the oil market.
Late January, the US Senate advanced the nomination of former Exxon Mobil Corp Chief Executive Rex Tillerson to be President Donald Trump's secretary of state. Tillerson, 64, retired as chairman and chief executive of Exxon Mobil at the end of 2016 after a four-decade career at the company.
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