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TEHRAN, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- Iran expressed its readiness to hold talks with Saudi Arabia to stabilize the oil market, Press TV quoted Iran's Minister of Petroleum Bijan Namdar Zanganeh as saying on Wednesday.
Zanganeh hailed major oil producers' adherence to their oil quota commitments, subject to last year's November agreement, and said that the market's reaction to OPEC and non-OPEC members' production cuts are "positive."
"OPEC members' commitment to cutting production has been very good and the trend continues. Non-OPEC members have also started decreasing output and we hope they will quickly reach the figures they committed to," he was quoted as saying.
In their meeting last November, OPEC members unanimously agreed on the oil price of 60 U.S. dollars per barrel, hence they agreed to cut output by 1.2 million bpd down to 32.5 million bpd for the first six months of 2017.
He added that non-OPEC members including Russia, Oman and Mexico also agreed to cut 558,000 bpd off their production.
"If the current trend continues, we predict that the oil market's supply and demand situation will balance out and crude oil inventories will drop," he pointed out.
"However, the market still needs to further cut production for the year's second six months. This issue requires further negotiations," Zanganeh added.
To stabilize the oil market, Iran and Saudi Arabia "will continue negotiations within the framework of their common and national interests," he stressed.
