TEHRAN -- Iran's Oil Minister, Gholam-Hossein Nozari, said here on Sunday that Iran would propose the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut output by 1.5 to 2 million barrels per day (bpd), Iran's official IRNA news agency reported.
"Our position in the upcoming meeting in Algeria is to call for1.5 to 2 million bpd cut in OPEC's output," Nozari said, adding that "Only by doing this, we will be able to maintain the balance between supply and demand."
"Otherwise, the OPEC would face a surplus in oil supply which would result in more fall in the price next summer," Nozari was quoted as saying.
The proposal, according to him, is to be made during the OPEC upcoming meeting scheduled to take place in Oran, Algeria, on Dec.17.
Nozari said a failure to cut output at the Oran summit would result in a major oversupply of oil in the first and second quarters of 2009, according to Iran's satellite Press TV.
"This will cause oil prices to continue their decline next year," he said.
Iran's representative to OPEC, Mohammad Ali Khatibi, said on Saturday that his country expects a hard year in the global oil market.
"The oil market will see tough time next year before the market re-stabilizes," Press TV quoted Khatibi as saying.
"The demand for oil will be very low in 2009," he said.
He demanded OPEC members make right decisions and seek a consensus in the forthcoming ministerial meeting in the northwestern Algerian town of Oran.
The global oil market was oversupplied by two bpd, Iran's Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said earlier last month, after OPEC deferred a decision on a new output cut.
OPEC, which supplies about 40 percent of the global oil, believes oil demand would be affected significantly amid concerns of world economic recession in the first half of next year.
In recent months, the oil prices have dropped sharply from 147 U.S. dollars in July to just above 40 U.S. dollars a barrel.
OPEC has cut its oil output by 1.5 million bpd in October and is expected to cut further at the upcoming Algeria meeting.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi said earlier that his country hoped to raise oil prices to 75 U.S. dollars a barrel, which was a "fair price."
Editor: Chris
