Putin finds it fair if Iran reaches pre-sanctions level of oil production

HANGZHOU /China/ September 5. /TASS/. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin finds it fair if Iran reaches the level of oil production it had before the sanctions. Speaking at a press-conference after the G20 summit Putin said. "In general, Saudi Arabia did not rule out the need to" freeze" production volumes, there were long discussions on this issue. The problem there is Iran’s intention to build-up its production. In my opinion, I already spoke about this, Iran’s output under sanctions was minimal, so I believe it is fair, if Iran reaches the pre-sanctions level (of oil production - TASS). There aren’t any high requirements on behalf of Iran," the Russian leader said. "We know about peculiarities of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, unfortunately. We try not to interfere, but I had the impression during our contacts with the Saudi Arabian side that they do not rule it out either (Iran’s return to the level of oil production that it had before the sanctions - TASS)," Putin said. In April, representatives of 18 oil-producing countries met in Doha (Qatar). Iran refused to discuss the oil production freeze saying it was unwilling to "give up its historic production quota." The participants of the talks failed to reach an agreement on oil production cap. After 12 hours of talks the parties said they needed some more time for consideration. Then, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that the agreement was not reached because several counties had changed their positions. Saudi Arabia was among the members of OPEC that put forward additional requirements to address the "freeze" of oil production. Saudi Arabia said that it would sign the agreement only if Iran also signed it, although it had not voiced such conditions earlier. Read more