Oil surges 7 percent Iran says it supports output freeze

Oil surges 7 percent  Iran says it supports output freeze

Oil prices extended gains on Wednesday after Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh was quoted as saying Iran supports the decision by OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers to keep a "ceiling" on oil production.

"The decision that was taken for the OPEC and non-OPEC members to keep their production ceiling to stabilize the market and prices for the benefit of producers and consumers, is supported by us," he told the ministry's official Shana news agency.

He was speaking after he met his counterparts from three other producing nations — Iraq, Venezuela and Qatar — to discuss a proposal to freeze output at January levels.

Zanganeh did not explicitly say in his remarks quoted by Shana that Iran would keep its own output at its January level. An Iranian official earlier said Iran would continue increasing its crude output until it reached levels seen before the imposition of international sanctions.

Brent crude was up $2.49, or 7.7 percent, at $34.67 a barrel by 11:35 a.m. ET (1635 GMT), near a session high. U.S. crude rose $1.88, or 6.5 percent, to $30.92 a barrel, up $1.75, also near the highs of the day.

Source: CNBC