Brent oil futures drop after Iran says it will not cut output

Crude oil futures continued to be buffeted about by the sometimes conflicting remarks by energy ministers from the world´s main producers ahead of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries´s Energy ministers´meetings scheduled for the next day.

Iran refused to cut its level of production, echoing the similarly hard stance adopted by Saudi Arabia during the previous session.

After arriving at the Austrian capital of Vienna for the 30 November OPEC ministers´meeting, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said his country would not reduce its level of output.

"We will leave the level of production we decided on in Algeria," Zanganeh said.

In September, OPEC countries agreed to cap their combined output at between 32.5m to 33.0m barrels a day, versus estimates at the time that pegged the cartel´s average level of production at 33.4m b/d.

His remarks came alongside last-minute shuttle diplomacy by his Algerian and Venezuelan counterparts, who had travelled to Moscow that same day in an attempt to bridge the gap between Russia´s and Saudi Arabia´s negotiating positions.

Following that meeting, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said he would not be travelling to Vienna although his country could meet with OPEC once a deal was reached.

Saudi Arabia had asked that Iran, Iraq and non-OPEC members including Russia all contribute to a reduction in output.

Riyadh had offered to slash its own oil output by 0.5m barrels a day but had asked that Iran maintain its own output at its then current rate of roughly 3.8m b/d, versus Tehran ambitions of producing closer to 4.2m b/d.

For his part, Algerian Energy Minister, Noureddine Boutarfa, on 26 November proposed to Iran that OPEC cut production by a combined 1.1m barrels a day.

On 28 November, in an apparent attempt to stake out its own negiotiating stance, Saudi had said that a reduction in the oil cartel´s output might not be necessary in light of expected stronger economic growth in the States.

Also at the start of the week, Iraq´s own Energy Minister reportedly said he was "optmistic" that a deal would finally be reached.