Iran seeks OPEC cooperation to stop oil price slump

Iran Monday sought cooperation among the member states of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to prevent the global oil prices from falling further.

Iran was consulting with other OPEC member states to prevent oil prices from falling further, although it had no plans for an OPEC emergency meeting, Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh said.

"Cooperation among OPEC members should be strengthened so that the oil price (is) balanced and reasonable for investors and producers," he said during a petrochemical conference here, Xinhua reported.

"Consultations with the OPEC member states have yet to bear fruit," the Iranian minister said.

"A political determination is keeping oil prices from edging up."

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian Saturday said Iran wanted Saudi Arabia to help in stopping the continuous slump in oil prices to protect the economies of the region's oil producing countries.

"We have told Saudi Arabian officials through diplomatic channels that they should prevent the enemies of the region from harming the growing economies of regional countries," Amir-Abdollahian said, according to media reports.

Oil prices have tumbled almost 50 percent to below $50 per barrel.

Iran's economy is heavily reliant on oil exports. Besides the losses from declining oil prices, Iran's crude exports have fallen 60 percent to 1 million barrels a day due to Western sanctions on its energy and financial sectors.