Iran opposes increased OPEC production

Fuel Fix:
OPEC meets in Vienna on Friday in a final effort to overcome Iranian opposition to a preliminary agreement to boost production by a theoretical 1 million barrels a day -- although the actual increase would be smaller as several countries are unable to raise output.

Following night of drama in Vienna on Thursday, the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee, which includes Russia and Saudi Arabia, recommended a supply boost despite Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, the Iranian oil minister, walking out of the meeting and predicting OPEC won't convince him to back an increase. He met with his Saudi counterpart for private talks on Friday morning before the full OPEC meeting, said one delegate.

Iran could wield a veto over any formal deal, but such a move wouldn't necessarily prevent additional oil coming onto the market. Riyadh could seek to assemble a coalition of countries ready to pump more within their existing agreement, act unilaterally to boost output or abandon the 2016 cuts deal entirely.
...
With new sanctions on Iran, it is hoping to keep prices high because it will have difficulty marketing any increased production.  The Saudis do not have that problem and Russia will also likely agree to increased production.  Iran and Venezuela will be laggards.  With the Saudis already at war with Iranian proxies in Yemen it has no incentive to help Iran and its hostile regime.

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