It was previously reported that Iran was anticipating a further drop-off in prices whereas most other nations were expecting a rebound. Now Iran is urging other OPEC countries to stop selling off oil supplies as they have been doing in recent months. While this may be a matter of simple disagreement on oil export policy, it is also possibly an attempt to manipulate the market to Iran’s advantage, in keeping with recent efforts that the nation has taken to secure a share of the petroleum exports of other regional partners.

 

If Iran is making recommendations contrary to what the market actually expects, it may be in a position to grab for some of the market share that it has apparently lost in recent months as oil producers like Libyan have resurged and others like Qatar have secured competitive Asian contracts.