If An Iranian Nuclear Deal Is Reached And Sanctions Are Lifted, Who Will Buy Iran's Oil?

Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh (C) talks to journalists before a meeting of OPEC oil ministers in Vienna, Austria, June 5, 2015. Reuters/Heinz-Peter Bader

Fuel Fix/Bloomberg: What’s OPEC going to do with Iran’s million barrels a day?

Just when it looked like OPEC was winning the war with U.S. shale-oil drillers, a new front is opening up within its own ranks.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ summit on June 5 to determine the group’s output will come three weeks before a deadline for a deal on Iran’s nuclear program. The government in Tehran says it can add almost 1 million barrels to daily production within six months of sanctions being lifted.

That’s a million barrels that OPEC hasn’t had to worry about since it adopted a new strategy in November of favoring market share over propping up prices. The group is already pumping the most oil in more than two years to quash higher-cost producers, and while Iran’s return would add to the pressure on OPEC’s rivals, it will also heighten competition within the group for buyers.

Update: OPEC oil output: What happens if Iran sanctions are lifted? -- Nick Cunningham, CSM/Oilprice.com

WNU Editor: I suspect that there will be a lot of buyers for Iran's oil .... if the price is right. But it is true .... prices appear to be going down. The next question that needs to be asked is .... if Libya gets its act together, what will OPEC do with its oil?