Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hussein Nozari has revealed that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will seriously consider rationing its oil production, the semi-official FARS news agency reported. “I think OPEC will be serious about this issue” in case of continuous decline of crude oil prices and lack of oil output control by some OPEC members which keep high level oil production, Nozari was quoted as saying. “Those members who have increased their production should control it,” Nozari said, referring to the remarks made by some oil ministers of OPEC member states about the probability of reducing the production level of the oil. “We have the responsibility to control the market and to be serious about the rations,” he said. Crude oil prices slid again on Friday, as weak economic growth data of the United States reignited concerns about slowing demand in world's biggest energy consuming nation. Concerns over the health of the US economy - a major buyer of global energy exports - have pushed crude oil prices down by about $25 since reaching record peaks above $147 on July 11. “In case of the continuation of a downward trend in oil price, one of the serious discussions in the next OPEC meeting will be definitely the quotas,” IRNA quoted Nozari as saying. OPEC is scheduled to hold its next regular meeting on Sept. 9 in Vienna. “OPEC, as the responsible body to control the market, should be more meticulous for the control of quotas,” the oil minister said. “The (member) countries that have increased their capacity should control it... The issue is that some countries have been supplying more than their quota,” he added. Nozari said in July that Iran was against any hike in the cartel's output quota despite continued high crude prices. Iran is the world's fourth-largest crude oil producer and tension over its nuclear program helped push crude prices to record highs above $147 a barrel on July 11. But prices dropped by around 2$0 since then. In London, Brent North Sea crude for September delivery soared as high as $127.94 on Friday before settling at $124.18. Moreover, Iran said the offshore oil and gas StatoilHydro has not confirmed if it will hold back on development of the nation's Azar oilfield. “In case StatoilHydro decided to refuse developing the Azar oilfield in the Anaran block, Iran will use domestic contractors to develop the field as it did in the Azadegan oilfield,” Iranian Oil Minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari told reporters. North Hydro, before being merged with Statoil, discovered the Azar oilfield and has stressed the development of the field, he added. Under heavy US pressures, StatoilHydro chief executive Helge Lund announced on Friday that the Norwegian company will not invest in new projects in Iran. “We have been evaluating our investment decisions and, having informed the authorities in Norway and the European Union and discussed the issue with the US, our view is that this position is in the best interests of shareholders and the company,” Lund said. Iran and Statoil had finalized their negotiations on the development of the Anaran block's Azar oilfield, in which Russian Luke Oil Company holds a 25 percent stake. The Iranian oil minister said many foreign oil companies are interested in investing in Iran's energy sector and that, if StatoilHydro were serious about withdrawing from the Azar oilfield, Iranian contractors were capable of developing the field.
