Iran Sees ‘No Threat’ From Oil at $25 as Prices Keep Falling

[Purveyor]

By Hashem Kalantari and Golnar Motevalli Jan 20, 2015 3:23 AM ET

OPEC has no immediate plan to cut its output target for crude, and Iran is strong enough to withstand a deeper slump in prices even if the country must sell at $25 a barrel, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said.

“If the oil prices drop to $25 a barrel, there will yet again be no threat posed to Iran’s oil industry,” Zanganeh told reporters on Jan. 19 at a conference in Tehran, according to the state-run Fars news agency.

Brent crude traded below $49 in London on Jan. 19. Oil has fallen more than 30 percent since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries decided on Nov. 27 to keep its ceiling unchanged at 30 million barrels a day. Iran isn’t seeking for OPEC to hold an emergency meeting, Zanganeh said. The group is scheduled to meet next on June 5.

Iran together with Venezuela has called for OPEC, which supplies about 40 percent of the world’s oil, to work together to support a recovery in crude. The U.S. shale boom has contributed to a global glut, and Qatar and the United Arab Emirates estimate the oversupply at about 2 million barrels a day. Iran is hobbled by international sanctions over its nuclear program and struggling for market share.

Brent crude, a benchmark for more than half of the world’s oil, has slid 15 percent this month and was 39 cents lower at $48.54 a barrel at 7:24 a.m. London time on Tuesday. Oil fell almost 50 percent last year, the most since the 2008 financial crisis.

more...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-19/iran-sees-opec-sticking-by-oil-output-decision-amid-price-slump.html

[panader0]

1. Will the falling price make fracking and oil sands unprofitable?

I hope so.
There's deeper things going on here. Why do the Saudis do this?

[Dreamer Tatum]

2. Until those businesses don't exist, then the price of oil will skyrocket.

Saudi is dumping oil.

[JimDandy]

5. I hope the US is buying it at these prices

and storing it (apparently it doesn't go bad) for essential uses (plastic medical devices, etc) fifty years down the road and putting a ton of money into producing renewable energy. That would be the smartest thing to do for the long-term.

[big_dog]

6. Saudis want to keep Iran etc. in line

n/t

[4139]

3. While technically correct, oil industry will be okay...

...the rest of the country would be in a woe of hurt.

[FBaggins]

4. Exactly

They could say "it won't be as bad as Venezuela" perhaps... but they can't say their national economy isn't taking a nosedive.