An Iranian oil official said any Opec decision in February to hike output would not impact the market this winter but would have an effect in spring, the Oil Ministry's official Web site reported on Monday. The Iranian oil minister, Gholamhossein Nozari, said last week that he believed there was enough oil in global markets and saw no need for an increase in output.
"A possible decision by Opec to increase output in its February meeting does not have an impact on the oil market in this year's winter and it will have an impact on the oil market in the spring," senior Iranian oil official Mohammad Ali Khatibi was quoted by the Web site SHANA as saying.
But Khatibi, deputy director of international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company, added any such decision "to increase output can have a positive psychological impact on the market and impact prices a bit." The White House previously said US President George W. Bush hoped his talks in Saudi Arabia during a tour of the Middle East would help encourage Opec to raise production and dampen oil prices.