Iran official sees possible oil price rise: IRNA

TEHRAN (Reuters) – The head of Iran’s state oil firm expressed hope that crude prices would rise, citing predictions of increased consumption in coming months, the official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday.

Seifollah Jashnsaz, managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company, also said Iran had cut output by 550,000 barrels per day (bpd), in line with the drive by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in recent months to reduce production in a bid to halt tumbling prices.

Oil prices have plunged by more than $100 a barrel since a peak of $147 last July as the global economic downturn hit energy demand, despite a series of production cuts by OPEC.

U.S. crude traded at around $39 on Friday.

But Jashnsaz said the OPEC reductions had helped the market.

Reuters