Spokesman of the Energy Commission of Parliament: Saudi Arabia has harmed OPEC members

Asadollah Gharekhani, spokesman for the Energy Commission of Parliament, reacted on Sunday, November 7, to Saudi Arabia's threat to increase oil production if Iran does not reduce its output, accusing the officials of that country of having "not only harmed Iran but also the members of OPEC with inappropriate decisions on oil issues in recent years." According to the House of Representatives News Agency, he stated that the contradictory remarks of Saudi officials regarding the oil freeze plan are due to the fact that "Saudi Arabia, due to the tightening of ISIS in the Syrian and Mosul fronts, has once again resorted to threats and breach of promises." Mr. Gharekhani did not rule out the possibility of "a oil war initiated by Riyadh." Earlier, Reuters reported, citing sources within OPEC, that following longstanding disputes between Tehran and Riyadh at the last OPEC meeting in Algiers, Saudi Arabia threatened to increase its exports to lower oil prices if Iran does not limit its production. Informed sources from OPEC negotiations told Reuters that Saudi Arabia's recent threat was in response to Iran's announcement that it is unwilling to keep its production stable. The two major oil-producing countries, which support their affiliated forces in Syria and Yemen, have had disagreements over oil production in recent years. Iran has sought to increase its oil production to levels prior to the onset of global sanctions due to its nuclear program, but Saudi Arabia has opposed reducing its oil output. The spokesman of the Energy Commission of Parliament pointed out that Saudi Arabia's decisions are more politically motivated than economically driven, adding: "Saudi Arabia has not had a good record in OPEC in recent years and has implemented oil decisions that do not align with the interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran and regional countries." One source in the OPEC negotiations, who wished to remain anonymous, told Reuters that "Saudi Arabia threatened to increase its production to 11 or even 12 million barrels per day, will lower oil prices, and may even leave the negotiations." This came at a time when tensions between Tehran and Riyadh had eased somewhat due to Saudi Arabia's agreement to limit its oil production in recent months, which in turn created conditions for an increase in OPEC's export oil prices. In this context, the OPEC meeting in September agreed to its first production cut since 2008 and made special provisions for countries like Libya, Nigeria, and Iran, whose production levels have been affected by factors such as war and sanctions. Asadollah Gharekhani accused Saudi Arabia of reducing oil prices to one-third with its wrong policies, adding: "The renewed tensions during last week's OPEC meeting indicate the fragile nature of OPEC agreements." Meanwhile, informed sources in OPEC negotiations told Reuters that Saudi Arabia's threat even surprised Gulf Arab countries that are Riyadh's allies. Apparently, Saudi Arabia asked Iran to cap its production at 3.66 million barrels per day, while Iran has officially reported its production at about 3.85 million barrels in September this year and intends to increase it to 12.7% of OPEC's total production, equivalent to 4.2 million barrels per day. Iran's argument in the recent OPEC meeting was that Saudi Arabia has added at least one million barrels to its production since 2014 and now wants to convince other members with a promise to reduce 400,000 barrels.