Iran is set to attend the meeting of an OPEC+ advisory committee next month, according to a delegate who declined to be identified. While Iran — exempted from OPEC’s production cuts because it’s output has been hit by U.S. sanctions — isn’t a member of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC), it will be represented at the panel’s March 3 gathering, the delegate said. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, which include Russia, meet the following day to consider output levels for April.
It’s not uncommon for non-JMMC members to participate in its sessions, with OPEC nations such as Libya and Venezuela having attended in the past.
Yet Iran’s presence is less typical, and comes as the Islamic Republic engages in a diplomatic back-and-forth that could eventually lift sanctions on Iranian crude exports. If significant volumes from the country hit world markets, that could complicate OPEC’s efforts to clear surplus oil inventories left behind during the pandemic.