Iran's oil minister said Wednesday he believed the world was awash with oil and blamed high prices on politics and not supplies. "There is an oversupply of the market, and the high prices can be explained by politics," Bijan Namdar Zanghaneh, whose country is Opec's number-two exporter, told reporters after a cabinet meeting. Opec ministers are due to meet next on December 1 in Cairo. Crude oil prices slipped below 46 dollars a barrel on Wednesday on increasing hopes of adequate heating fuel supply during the northern hemisphere winter, dealers said.