OPEC Endorses Iran Exemption from Production Cut
Iran managed to secure exemption from an agreement by OPEC members to reduce their oil production to prevent supply glut and bolster the prices.
Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), during their 175th meeting in Vienna on Thursday, agreed to cut their oil output by 800,000 barrels per day in the first half of 2019.
Iran, Libya and Venezuela, given their exceptional conditions, are exempted from the agreement to cut their crude oil output.
Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh, upon arrival in Vienna and even before that, had repeatedly insisted that Iran should be exempted from any decision to cut OPEC production because of the US sanctions.
Before OPEC Meeting, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid al-Falih has stressed the need for the cooperation of all OPEC members to strike an output cut agreement.
The fifth joint meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC producers will be held on Friday, December 7 at OPEC Secretariat in Vienna, with 14 OPEC members and 10 non-OPEC producers.
Sources have confirmed that Russia and other non-OPEC producers will contribute to the production reduction by at least 400,000 b/d for improving oil prices in the market.