PARIS (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani
said on Thursday that oil prices would not stay low for long as
producers restore market balance.
"The price of oil is at a low
level ... I don't think it will last in the long term ... The pressure
on oil-producing nations means balance will be restored in the short
term," Rouhani, whose country is the third-largest producer in OPEC,
said at the French Institute of International Relations.
Pragmatist
Rouhani arrived in France on Wednesday on the second leg of a state
visit to Europe after three days in Italy. Iran is pushing to boost oil
exports now that international sanctions against it have been lifted.
Reiterating
Iran's official stance, Rouhani blamed Shi'ite Iran's Sunni regional
rival Saudi Arabia for the drop in oil prices, which have halved since
last May as global supply outstrips demand.
Oil futures surged
on Wednesday after non-OPEC member Russia indicated there was a
possibility of cooperation with the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries to curb output and thus raise the crude price,
currently near $33 a barrel.
Nikolai Tokarev, head of Russia's
oil pipeline monopoly Transneft, said on Wednesday Russian officials had
decided they should talk to Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries about
output cuts aimed at bolstering crude prices.
But Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said Tehran had not been contacted by Moscow over oil output cuts.
"I
have not received anything," Zanganeh said at a Franco-Iranian summit
in Paris, adding that Iran would sign an agreement with French oil major
Total (TOTF.PA).
"We will sign an agreement with Total (this) afternoon," he said, without elaborating. Total declined to comment.
(Reporting by John Irish and Bate Felix in Paris; Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Dale Hudson and Jason Neely)
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