(Ecofin Agency) - Oil prices dropped on Friday as talk of plans to freeze production levels was altered by an increase in U.S. crude records, Reuters reports.

Brent futures dropped by 35 cents at $33.93 a barrel on Friday morning with U.S. crude falling by 36 cents to $30.41. Oil prices increased by over 14 % this week driven by Saudi Arabia and Russia's decision to freeze production at January levels.

Iranian Oil Minister, Bijan Zanganeh, welcomed the plan, but failed to commit to it saying that Tehran needs to recover the market share it lost during years of sanctions adding that regardless of what Iran does, the world was already awash with unwanted oil.

As a matter of fact, Saudi Arabia has restated that it is not ready to reduce output and will continue to protect its market share. “If other producers want to limit or agree to a freeze in terms of additional production, that may have an impact on the market, but Saudi Arabia is not prepared to cut production,” foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Thursday.

However, Iraq's oil minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, after a meeting in Tehran on Wednesday has said that talks will persist between OPEC and non-OPEC members so as to find a means of restoring oil prices.

According to data from Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Thursday, a record high in U.S. crude inventories last week fueled concerns over continued global glut. Crude stocks increased by 2.1 million bbls to the highest of 504.1 million.

“The market is expecting continuing inventory builds,” Tony Nunan, oil risk manager at Japan's Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo said.

Anita Fatunji