Saudi Arabia may cut production only if Iran freezes its output

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Saudis officials claim they are ready to cut crude oil production only if Iran freezes its oil output at the current level, Reuters says citing its anonymous sources.

Today Saudi Arabia produces more than 10.6 million barrels of crude oil every day. Between January and may the country’s output was about 10.2 million bpd, but in June, according to the seasonal peak in demand, it increased its production.

Iran said earlier that it agrees to freeze its production level only if other countries cut their own. Iran’s officials claim that their move will be meaningless it other oil producing countries keep pumping oil at record levels. Besides, Iran insists on setting “fair prices” for its crude as the country is not satisfied with the current price level.

Saudi and Iranian officials met earlier this week at OPEC’s headquarters in Vienna to discuss in private steps they could take to reach an agreement on settling the oil market. Still, according to sources cited by Bloomberg, the parties did not come to any agreement.