Iran could agree to OPEC production freeze at next summit

(AGI) Tehran, Aug 26 - Iran will attend the next OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) summit in Algiers to take part in the discussions on the current market situation. Iran's oil minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh said he will travel to Algeria from Sept. 26 to 28, where the OPEC ministerial meeting will take place on the the sidelines of the International Energy Forum (IEF). The main topic of the summit, which will also be attended by non-OPEC oil producing countries, will be what policy to implement in order to raise oil prices, as the recent drop has severely affected the budgets of numerous nations. According to Iran's Press TV channel, two policies will be proposed at the summit: the details of the first one, which will brought forward by Saudi Arabia, have not yet been disclosed; the second proposal will be to freeze global production at current levels. Minister Zangeneh implied that Iran might agree to the latter, given that its oil exports returned to pre-sanction levels a few months ago at 2.3 million barrels a day. However, Press TV reported, Iran will only agree on condition that an agreement is reached among the major oil producers. In 2015, as Iran's sales began to increase after sanctions were lifted, Saudi Arabia started underbidding and cut its prices, triggering a downwards spiral that ended up causing serious problems for the coffers of the Saudis themselves. This year, however, the expectation is that Riyadh will seek an agreement to get its own budget back on target. Experts are therefore predicting that a production freeze at current levels is the most likely outcome. (AGI). .