Iranian oil minister Bijan Zanganeh said Monday that his meetings in Algiers this week are as much about discussing investment opportunitues to breathe new life into his country's oil industry as about discussing with OPEC and Russia ways to bring about greater market stability.
"It's a good opportunity for us in the post-sanctions era to take advantage of the situation, as we need three things: the market, the financial resources and investment, and third, the technology," Zanganeh told state radio before leaving Tehran for the International Energy Forum.
He said he has a keen interest to meet with Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne at the IEF in Algiers, as well as leaders of other big oil companies, in order to ensure Iran's crude production does not plateau and hits its pre-sanctions target of above 4 million b/d in the months ahead.
Iran's oil output appears to have stalled in the past three months according to S&P Global Platts' surveys at 3.63 million b/d, after making quick work of ratcheting up production since January. State officials peg Iran's output at about 3.8 million b/d.
"Investment has fallen in the oil industry and in the long-term this will harm consumers," Zanganeh said, adding that the current market situation is bad for both producers and consumers as it undermines market stability.
Zanganeh played down hopes for a coordinated agreement on the sidelines for the IEF meering among OPEC members, stating that "this is a consultation, and we should expect as much as you can from a consultation meeting in order to prepare for the formal meeting in Vienna."
OPEC ministers are meeting on the sidelines of the IEF meeting on Wednesday to discuss coordinating output policy going forward, with some members calling for a production freeze.
After Algiers, OPEC is next due to meet in Vienna on November 30.
Observers have said they see scant chance of the producer group reaching a consensus on output policy that would meaningfully address the market's oversupply, with Iran, Iraq, Nigeria and Libya seeking to boost output, while Saudi Arabia pumps at record levels.
