Iran ready to bolster global energy security: Minister

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The global energy market needs more of Iran's oil, Iranian Petroleum Minister Javad Owji said Monday, stressing that his country is ready to play a role in providing for the global supply chain away from politics.

The Iranian statement came after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies agreed to cut production by a small margin. 

OPEC+ declared Monday its intention to resume oil production at the August level and cut it by 100,000 barrels per day (BPD) in October.

"[OPEC+ decodes to] Revert to the production level of August 2022 for OPEC and non-OPEC Participating Countries for the month of October 2022 as per the attached table, noting that the upward adjustment of 0.1 mb/d to the production level was intended only for the month of September 2022," the intergovernmental organization said in a statement.

"We have always declared that we are ready to contribute to our role in the supply of oil and oil products and to improve energy security in the world by avoiding politicization of oil and the political use of energy," Owji stressed.

In the wake of the OPEC decision, the White House said US President Joe Biden was committed to taking all necessary steps to increase energy stockpiles while decreasing energy prices that have been on a sharp incline over the past few months.

"The president has been clear that energy supply should meet demand to support economic growth and lower prices for American consumers and consumers around the world," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

Biden had previously tried to convince the organization to increase its oil output in a bid to cool the red-hot energy prices, traveling to Saudi Arabia with hopes of persuading Saudi Arabia to promise to increase its oil output and relieve the pressure on the global supply chain.

However, the price of oil rose even further after he left West Asia without striking a deal with Saudi Arabia on Riyadh pumping out more oil.

Attempting to curve the prices of oil in the US when all else failed, Washington has been actively using its Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) for over a year. 

At the current pace of oil production, the reserves will shrink to a 40-year low with only 358 million barrels remaining by the end of October. Last year, the SPR location in Texas and Louisiana reportedly contained 621 million barrels. According to official information, the US is set to stop extractions from SPR in October.