Brent crude slides below $46 after Iran's refusal to freeze production

Brent crude deepened its losses in American trade on Tuesday, trading below $46 a barrel and wiping out yesterday's gains, after Iran refused to freeze production at current levels, while Saudi Arabia insists on Iran's participation in any production freezing deal. 

As of 15:10 GMT, Brent slid to $45.75 a barrel from the opening price of $47.04, with a session-high at $47.26, and a low at $45.64. 

Brent November futures closed up 2.1% yesterday, the largest daily gain since September 8, as most dollar-denominated commodities rose. 

Iran's oil minister Beijan Namadar Zenkeh said in the Algerian capital that his country isn't ready yo freeze production at currency levels, as they aim to raise to 4 million barrels a day, and adding that Iran intends to take a market share of 12-13% in OPEC. 

Saudi Oil minister Khalid Al Falish said on his part that the Algerian meeting is for conferring only, saying he doesn't expect a deal this week. 

Saudi Arabia offered to freeze production at the January levels provided that Iran freezes them a their current levels of 3.6 million bpd. 

Saudi Arabia pumped a record 10.69 million bpd in August, up from 0.49 million bpd in January when they pumped 10.2 million bpd.