Iran will officially notify producer group OPEC in December of its plans to raise its crude oil output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd), the Iranian oil minister said on Saturday. “We…ask them to respect the 30-million-barrel ceiling which they have agreed,” Bijan Zanganeh was quoted as saying by Shana, the ministry’s news agency. “Iran is prepared to supply at least 500,000 bpd of crude oil to global markets,” he added. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will meet in Vienna in early December. OPEC is pumping close to a record high as major producers focus on defending market share. This has added to amply supplies, which have helped cut prices by more than half from June 2014 to below $50 a barrel. Under a deal reached with six major powers in July, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for an end to economic […]