Iran's OPEC Governor said more time was needed to see how the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' decision to cut production will impact the oil market, adding that OPEC could move to cut output further at future meetings, the daily Hamshahri newspaper reported Sunday.
"It is still too early to make a decision about the impact of OPEC's decision," Mohammad Ali Khatibi said, according to Hamshahri.
To see "how much of an impact this action will have--given the state of the world economy, time is needed. We must wait and see this decision implemented from the beginning of November in order to see its effect," Khatibi added, reported Hamshahri.
Despite a decision by OPEC to cut output by 1.5 million barrels a day during an extraordinary meeting held Friday in Vienna, crude oil prices continued to fall on the back of deepening concerns about global financial markets.
Nymex crude oil futures prices dropped by $5.19 a barrel to $62.65 soon after OPEC announced the decision, but slightly recovered to settle at $64.15 a barrel Friday, the lowest level since May 31, 2007.
Iran's OPEC governor said that if necessary, OPEC will once again take action at its upcoming Dec.17 meeting in Algeria to reduce output and if it is necessary, will even move to cut production in another extraordinary meeting, Hamshahri said.
"OPEC's extraordinary 150th meeting had an important message, and this was to show OPEC's determination to manage the market and cooperate with current developments in the world economy," Hamshahri cited Khatibi as saying.
Khatibi said the decision conveys the message that "OPEC is serious about the management of the market," adding that "this was a good sign that was also reflected in the recent meeting and in the previous meeting," Hamshahri reported.
Hamshahri said that according to Khatibi, the allocated reduction amounts are 199,000 barrels a day for Iran, 466,000 barrels a day for Saudi Arabia, 134,000 barrels daily for the United Arab Emirates, 129,000 barrels per day for Venezuela, and 113,000 barrels per day for Nigeria. The rest of the member countries will each reduce output by less than 100,000 barrels a day, according to Hamshahri.