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Tehran: Iran's oil minister said there was no need for Opec to hike output and the oil market was in a "good condition", a news agency reported on Wednesday.
Iran has regularly voiced opposition to increasing production by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), rebuffing calls from big consumers like the United States which want Opec to open the taps and cool prices.
Crude prices have fallen from an all-time peak this month of $147 a barrel but are still at historically high levels.
Echo
"Iran is against any increase in Opec crude production," the students' news agency Isna quoted Gholamhossain Nozari as saying. "The oil market is in a good condition," he added.
The remarks were echoed by Mohammad Ali Khatibi, Iran's Opec governor, who said Opec was currently producing 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) more than market demand, the Oil Ministry's website Shana reported.
"When there is no shortage in the oil market and Opec is producing more than the current need, how could raising output be justified?" Khatibi said.
"The recent decrease in crude prices is because of the easing of geopolitical concerns," he added.
Iran's oil production is now running at 4.23 million bpd and would reach 4.29 million bpd by the end of the Iranian month that ends on September 21, said Seyfollah Jashnsaz, managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company.
Jashnsaz also made his remarks to Shana.
MaintenAnce: Abadan refinery
Iran will shut its 180,000 barrels per day (bpd) crude unit at its Abadan refinery sometime around end-October for scheduled maintenance, a source from the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said yesterday.
The source said the shutdown could last between 30 and 40 days, which is part of the Opec member's multi-billion dollar effort to expand and upgrade its domestic refineries to 3.0 million bpd by around 2012, from about 1.6 million bpd.
"Yes, they will start this maintenance in October sometime, when the weather is cooler," the source said.
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