Iran's oil minister said on Monday he expected Opec to work on preventing the falling trend in crude prices and also to study oversupply in the market when it meets in September, oil ministry news website SHANA said.
Iran is traditionally a price hawk and has been at the forefront of rejecting calls for more output from consumers such as the United States, even when prices surged to a record $147 a barrel, a level from which they have now tumbled. Iran has previously said the market was oversupplied by about 1 million barrels per day (bpd).
"It seems that Opec's member states are intending to prevent the declining trend in oil prices," Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari was quoted as saying about the September meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
"Opec is examining the oil price trend, the issue of oversupply in the market and price controls," he said, adding that these topics would be discussed at the meeting. Oil prices are now trading at around $115 a barrel, finding some support from tensions between the West and Russia over Georgia. Iran's nuclear row with the West has provided support for oil prices this year. Opec ministers next meet on September 9 in Vienna.