TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's oil minister is calling for an emergency OPEC meeting, saying the current market value of oil has become "illogical."
The semiofficial Mehr news agency quoted the oil minister (Rostam Ghasemi) as saying that at a recent meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries member states agreed to hold an emergency meeting if oil prices fell below $100 per barrel. Brent crude was trading at $95.51 per barrel in London yesterday.
He says if OPEC members don't observe their quota and the organization's production ceiling of 30 million barrel per day, the market falls into disorder.
The comments come a day before a European Union embargo on imports of Iranian oil goes into effect.
Iran is OPEC's second-largest producer and earns some 80 percent of its foreign revenue from exporting crude. It has been hit hard by sanctions levied by the U.S. and other Western states over Iran's disputed nuclear program.
