Iran opposes OPEC oil output hike

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran, the number two oil producer in OPEC, reaffirmed on Tuesday that it was against any hike in the cartel's output quota despite continued high crude prices.

"The market is in a good situation," Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari told reporters in Tehran on the sidelines of a petrochemical conference.

"In the next OPEC meeting we are heading towards winter. I think that preserving the current situation is the most appropriate one," he added.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries is scheduled to hold its next regular meeting on September 9 in Vienna.

Algerian Energy Minister and President Chakib Khelil said on Monday that OPEC states possess "considerable excess oil capacity that would be able to satisfy any increase in demand for crude."

Iran receives the majority of its foreign currency earnings through oil exports and has vehemently resisted calls from consumer countries like the United States for a hike in the OPEC output quota.

The Islamic republic has also been at odds with the West over its nuclear programme, which it says is only aimed at producing electricity but the West fears could be used to produce nuclear weapons.

Oil prices struck record highs above 147 dollars earlier this month, boosted by weakness in the US dollar and simmering tensions over the nuclear standoff.

Iran, which borders the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz through which around 40 percent of the world's oil supply crosses, has not ruled out blocking the passage in case of an attack.