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Iran confirms to cut oil output from Jan. 1

TEHRAN - Iran said on Wednesday it would cut oil output by 545,000 barrels per day from Jan. 1 in line with OPEC’s decision to reduce production in its bid to try to shore up tumbling crude prices.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed in Algeria this month to cut output by a further 2.2 million bpd from Jan. 1, bringing total cuts by the group from its September 2008 production levels to 4.2 million bpd.

Some OPEC delegates have in the past voiced concern about Iran’s compliance with previous output curbs. Iran, OPEC’s second biggest producer, insists it sticks to OPEC commitments.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran, starting from tomorrow, will cut its crude production by about 14 percent,” said Seifollah Jashnsaz, the head of state-owned National Iranian Oil Company, according to the website of Iran’s state broadcaster.

“From tomorrow the daily crude production of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be reduced by 545,000 bpd,” he said.

Iran’s governor to OPEC, Mohammad Ali Khatibi, also said Iran would reduce output by roughly 545,000 bpd, a figure that is Iran’s share of all recently agreed OPEC curbs.

“We are always respecting our commitment to OPEC,” he said.

“We are cutting our production from what we produced in September,” Khatibi told Reuters. But he did not give a figure for September production and said there was no consensus among secondary sources about what Iran produced.

According to figures obtained by Reuters and which were circulated among OPEC ministers in Algeria, Iran’s September 2008 output was 3.9 million bpd, implying a total cut of 560,000 bpd that would reduce Iran’s output to 3.34 million bpd.

A Reuters survey put Iran’s output in November, after the first round of cuts by OPEC, at about 3.9 million bpd from October output of 3.95 million bpd, showing little sign of adherence to the earlier output reductions.