SULAIMANI (ESTA) — OPEC members have reached a consensus to extend oil production cuts by three months, said an Algerian minister on Monday.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will work on convincing their allies in the wider OPEC+ group to support such a move, Algerian Energy Minister Abdelmadjid Attar said, Reuters reported.
“There is consensus at the OPEC level … on extending the current 7.7 million barrels per day (bpd) cuts until … the end of March,” Attar said, according to Algeria’s state news agency.
Attar, holder of OPEC’s rotating presidency, was speaking shortly before OPEC ministers began talks to discuss a policy that would help producers cope with weak demand in 2021 due to the coronavirus crisis.
OPEC+, including OPEC, Russia and others, hold their wider talks on Tuesday, after informal discussions of key ministers on Sunday had failed to reach a consensus, Reuters reported.
The group had been due to ease existing production cuts by 2 million bpd from January. But, with demand still under pressure, OPEC+ has been considering extending existing cuts of 7.7 million bpd, about 8% of global demand, into the first months of 2021, a position backed by Saudi Arabia, sources said.
After Sunday’s consultations failed to reach agreement, sources said the group was also considering increasing output gradually from January, a position Russia backs.
“OPEC will probably agree to extend the current production ceiling for the first quarter of 2021, if the non-OPEC countries agree with it in (Tuesday’s) meeting,” an OPEC source said.
