SHANA-- The CEO of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) says production of oil beyond the output ceiling set by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) would required an approval of the members.

According to the Iranian Parliament's website, ICANA, Ali Kardor reacted to recent remarks by Saudi officials about ramping up the kingdom's crude oil output to serve US interests in the oil market, saying production of oil beyond the OPEC ceiling needs the approval of the organization, and "if a contrary view exists in this regard, OPEC must convene an emergency meeting."

Last week, OPEC members decided to stick to the group's November 2016 output cut plan to diminish supply by 1.2 mbd to tackle falling prices.

"Saudi Arabia has been notified of the interpretation of OPEC's recent statement and Iran’s OPEC governor has announced that any differing interpretation of OPEC statement would make holding an emergency meeting of the members necessary," the official said.

“Just spoke to King Salman of Saudi Arabia and explained to him that, because of the turmoil & disfunction in Iran and Venezuela, I am asking that Saudi Arabia increase oil production, maybe up to 2,000,000 barrels, to make up the difference...Prices to high! He has agreed!,” Trump said on Twitter Saturday.

Saudi Arabia has bragged about its ability to bolster crude oil output while the country may not be able to enhance its output by more than 500,000 b/d, the NIOC CEO argued.

He further said Total had 30 days to secure a sanctions waiver from US Treasury, saying the French company's officials had reached out to US officials but had not received any responses from Washington so far.