Iran's oil minister said Opec could revise a decision to boost crude production from November if that increase pushed prices lower than was economical for producers, an Iranian news agency reported.
In a bid to cool oil prices that have hit record levels in recent weeks, Opec agreed to hike output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) from Nov 1.
Crude prices eased back on Friday but are still trading around $80 a barrel and remain within sight of the record of $83.90 a barrel hit in September.
Commenting on the decision to hike output in November, Iranian caretaker Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said in remarks carried by Isna news agency:
'... if the amount of oil in the market pushed the (oil) price down, and it reached a level that was not economical for the producer, Opec will take a new decision.'
Iran saved $1bn by fuel rationing
Iran said it had saved $1 billion in the first hundred days since the world's fourth largest oil producer began rationing gasoline for drivers, the official Iranian news agency Irna reported.
Despite being a major oil exporter, Iran lacks refining capacity and has had to import increasingly large amounts of gasoline to meet surging demand for fuel -- until rationing was introduced on June 27 to put brake on consumption.
Iran spent $5 billion or more on importing gasoline last year. The fuel, whether shipped in from abroad or produced at home, is sold at heavily subsidised prices to drivers.
'$1 billion was saved during the past hundred days,' said Nasser Sadjadi, manager of the system of 'smart' electronic cards used to allocate quotas, IRNA reported.
Another Iranian official had previously said he expected rationing to save $3 billion in the Iranian year ending in March.
'The average petrol consumption in the past 100 days dropped to 60.5 million litres per day, which was 22 per cent lower than the same period last year,' Sadjadi added.
Officials have said consumption has dropped dramatically from the 75 million litres a day or more that was consumed before rationing began. Some officials figures show it has been creeping back up, hitting 63 million litres in August.
As well as weighing on state coffers, gasoline imports are an area where Iran is vulnerable as it faces the prospect of tougher United Nations sanctions in its dispute with the West over its nuclear plans. Many private drivers complain that they do receive adequate fuel under the scheme that allows them just 100 litres (22 imperial gallons) a month.
The government has refused to offer any additional fuel outside the quota system, even at a higher price than the 1,000 rials (about 11 US cents) a litre now charged.
Parliamentarians are pushing for fuel at free market prices to be made available.
Echoing comments by other Iranian officials, Sadjadi said the government had no plan to announce a free-market price for gasoline outside the rationing scheme.Via: Reuters
