An OPEC deal to curtail oil production appeared in jeopardy as Iran said it won’t make cuts while Saudi Arabia insisted Tehran must be willing to play a meaningful role in any agreement.
Ministers gathering in Vienna before Wednesday’s crucial OPEC meeting are attempting to resolve differences obstructing an accord. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh laid out his country’s position following talks with his Algerian and Venezuelan counterparts. Benchmark Brent crude dropped as much as 4.4 per cent in London.
With little time left before the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meets to finalise the first production curbs in eight years, resistance from Iran -- and from neighbouring Iraq -- has made the foundations for a deal look increasingly shaky. Top producer Saudi Arabia is ready to reject an accord unless all members, bar Libya and Nigeria, participate, people with knowledge of the kingdom’s position said earlier.
“I don’t know” if there will be an agreement, Indonesian Energy Minister Ignasius Jonan told reporters in Vienna. “The feeling today is mixed.“