Russian Presence at Iran Nuclear Talks 'Helped to Stabilize Oil Prices'

If Russia had not participated in the negotiations for Iran's nuclear program, global oil prices would have decreased to a much greater extent, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On July 14, Iran and the P5+1 group of countries — comprising Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany — reached an agreement on Tehran's peaceful use of its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, including an easing of restrictions on oil export.

"If Russia had boycotted these [Iran nuclear] talks we would have had just the same situation with the dynamics of global oil prices, maybe even worse than with Russia's participation in the negotiation process," Ryabkov said.

According to the World Bank, Iran's return to the global oil market could bring an additional million barrels per day and decrease oil prices further by up to $10 a barrel.

The US Energy Information Administration said Iran had the capability to increase oil output by about 600,000 barrels per day by the end of 2016.

Current global oil prices have almost halved compared to summer 2014, dropping from $100 to $47 a barrel for Brent crude in the second half of 2014, primarily caused by oversupply.