Opec to steer clear of output hike

TEHRAN : Iran, Opec's second largest oil producer, said on Tuesday it does not expect any decision to hike crude output at the cartel's meeting later this month.

"Given the circumstances, there will not be an output increase and Opec will not permit members to do it," Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi told reporters at a press conference.

"These days the (market) situation is not right to raise output. This is my forecast," he said.

The minister also urged members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which is to meet on December 22 in Luanda, to work to stabilise oil prices. "We should exert effort to reach price stability in the market."

OPEC president Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos of Angola said in November that a price of between 75 and 80 dollars a barrel would be satisfactory. It currently stands at around 77 dollars.

Some Opec members, including Venezuela, are expected to announce they want to maintain current production levels, which have been set since January at 24.84 million barrels per day.