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Azerbaijani minister says OPEC may offset increase of crude oil output in Iran

DOHA, April 16. /TASS/. OPEC may offset the increase of crude oil output in Iran up to 4 million barrels a day by revising the general quota of the oil cartel, the Azerbaijani Energy Minister, Natiq Aliyev told TASS on Saturday.

"Since Iran is an OPEC member, the problem of an increase of output by one of the member-states can be regulated within the framework of the cartel through a revision of the general quota," he said. "Still far from everyone fell like losing their share. But if other countries agreed to cut down their quotas, redistribution would take place."

Like Russia and Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan is not an OPEC member. All the three countries will take part in the meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC oil producing nations in the Qatari capital Doha on Sunday. Participants in the off-schedule conference plan to sign an agreement on freezing the output of crude at the current level so as to stabilize oil prices.

After the lifting of international sanctions introduced against Iran over its nuclear programme, Teheran hopes to raise the output to 4 million barrels a day from the current 3.5 million barrels and it is unwilling to join the agreement on the output freeze.

In the meantime, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Bloomberg on Saturday the kingdom would not restrain is oil production unless other producers including Iran agreed to freeze their output acted in same vein.

Russia in its turn believes that Iran’s abstaining from the agreement is not critical for the implementation of its provisions.