AFP, Tehran :
Iran claimed victory after it was spared any of the cuts in oil production accepted by other OPEC members, including its bitter regional rival Saudi Arabia, to tackle a global glut.
“Iran’s oil victory at OPEC” and “Failure of Riyadh’s oil diplomacy” were among the headlines in Iranian newspapers on Thursday morning, a day after the 14-member cartel agreed to reduce its output by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd).
Iran, Libya and Nigeria were exempted from the cuts, with Tehran even managing to win the right to increase its production by 90,000 bpd over the next six months.
The other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed that Iran should be allowed to return to its 2005 production levels of 3.975 million bpd-before international sanctions crippled its industry.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s most powerful member, agreed at the Vienna meeting to cut 500,000 bpd from its output.
Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh put a diplomatic spin on the fraught negotiation process.
“The lesson to take is that it is possible to cooperate and reach an agreement despite competition and the existence of very strong political differences,” he told state television.
Shiite Iran and Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia are locked in a series of brutal proxy conflicts across the Middle East that have taken on increasingly sectarian overtones, and have had no diplomatic ties since January.
The Saudis may have had little choice but to accept the deal, despite Iran’s refusal to cut production.
Riyadh’s finances have been ravaged by the collapse in oil prices, which fell from more than $100 a barrel in 2014 to near 13-year lows below $30 in February this year.
Iran claimed victory after it was spared any of the cuts in oil production accepted by other OPEC members, including its bitter regional rival Saudi Arabia, to tackle a global glut.
“Iran’s oil victory at OPEC” and “Failure of Riyadh’s oil diplomacy” were among the headlines in Iranian newspapers on Thursday morning, a day after the 14-member cartel agreed to reduce its output by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd).
Iran, Libya and Nigeria were exempted from the cuts, with Tehran even managing to win the right to increase its production by 90,000 bpd over the next six months.
The other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed that Iran should be allowed to return to its 2005 production levels of 3.975 million bpd-before international sanctions crippled its industry.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s most powerful member, agreed at the Vienna meeting to cut 500,000 bpd from its output.
Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh put a diplomatic spin on the fraught negotiation process.
“The lesson to take is that it is possible to cooperate and reach an agreement despite competition and the existence of very strong political differences,” he told state television.
Shiite Iran and Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia are locked in a series of brutal proxy conflicts across the Middle East that have taken on increasingly sectarian overtones, and have had no diplomatic ties since January.
The Saudis may have had little choice but to accept the deal, despite Iran’s refusal to cut production.
Riyadh’s finances have been ravaged by the collapse in oil prices, which fell from more than $100 a barrel in 2014 to near 13-year lows below $30 in February this year.
