Zangeneh: No Country Can Compensate for Iran's Oil Production Cuts

Iran's Minister of Oil described the Saudi Crown Prince's remarks about compensating for Iran's oil production as 'nonsense,' stating that neither Saudi Arabia nor any other country has the capacity to produce that much oil. According to the IRNA news agency, Bijan Zangeneh emphasized on Monday, October 8, that these comments were made 'under pressure' from U.S. President Donald Trump. Zangeneh considered the rise in oil prices as 'the best evidence' that 'the market is facing a shortage and is rightly concerned about a severe oil deficit.' On Friday, October 6, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced that Saudi Arabia, along with other oil-producing countries, had compensated for the reduction in Iran's oil exports, even 'doubling' it. Two days prior to these remarks, Reuters reported on a 'private' agreement between Saudi Arabia and Russia during the OPEC monitoring committee meeting on October 1 in Algeria to increase oil production again. Meanwhile, Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, Iran's representative at OPEC, stated that Saudi Arabia and Russia had increased their production by 346 and 250 thousand barrels per day, respectively, in violation of their commitments in the OPEC cooperation statement. However, the Iranian oil minister stated, 'What Saudi Arabia has supplied to the market during this time has not come from excess production capacity but from its previous reserves.' Previously, Iranian media had reported that purchasing one million barrels of oil was among the conditions of the Islamic Republic for an agreement with Europe and remaining in the JCPOA. However, many experts believe that Iran's oil exports will decrease to about one million barrels per day, similar to the previous sanctions period and before the JCPOA. According to forecasts from the American bank Jefferies, 'only China and Turkey are willing to take the risk of U.S. sanctions for trading with Iran.' Meanwhile, Reuters reported on Friday night, citing 'sources,' that India had purchased nine million barrels of oil from Iran. In this context, Iran's daily oil production decreased by another '100 thousand' barrels in September. Trump: I told the King of Saudi Arabia that without U.S. support, you won't last. Iran's protest against the 'private' oil agreement between Russia and Saudi Arabia. Donald Trump: I ended the windfall for the Revolutionary Guards. Oil prices rise; the uncertain future of the market under the influence of Iran's sanctions.