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News > World

Iran Refuses to Join OPEC Meeting on Oil Freeze

  • An Iranian national flag flutters during the opening ceremony of the 16th International Oil, Gas & Petrochemical Exhibition in Tehran.

    An Iranian national flag flutters during the opening ceremony of the 16th International Oil, Gas & Petrochemical Exhibition in Tehran. | Photo: Reuters

Published 16 April 2016
Opinion

Sources told Reuters that Iran had been informed that only those countries willing to agree to freeze their output level should attend.

Iran will not attend a meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC member countries about freezing oil output levels in Qatar on Sunday, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.

Producers are struggling with low oil prices and an oversupplied market but have been loath to cede market share by cutting output.

Instead, OPEC members Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Venezuela reached a preliminary agreement with Russia in February to freeze production at January levels.

Iran's oil minister had not been scheduled to attend, but Tehran was due to send Iran OPEC Governor Hossein ‎Kazempour Ardebilli, oil ministry news agency Shana reported on Friday.

Iran has said it supports the freeze but would not join it until it raises its output and market share to their pre-sanctions levels.

A rise in Iran's oil output will undermine efforts to rebalance the market in 2016, a Reuters poll of oil analysts showed this week.

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