Iran says oil market is saturated

TEHRAN, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Iranian energy officials said the international oil market is oversupplied and pointed to the excess as the reason behind declining oil prices.

Iranian Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said supply and demand mechanisms should keep oil at around $100 per barrel on the world market, the Iranian Press TV reported. Oil began trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday at around $87 per barrel after a peak of $147 in July.

"The market is faced with an oversupply of about 400,000 barrels per day," the oil minister said.

The members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in September decided to cut oil supplies by 520,000 barrels per day as a means to keep prices around $100.

Iran is moving aggressively in the energy sector as economic sanctions imposed by Western nations hamper the domestic economy.

The oil minister's comments came on the sidelines of an international gas conference in which several Western firms, including the French major Total and Austria's OMV, faced criticism for dealing with the Islamic Republic.