OPEC panel wants 6-month extension of oil cut

Indications are emerging that the Organisation for Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, and non-OPEC pact on oil cut to end the market glut, will be extended for another 6 months.
OPEC, Russia and other producers originally agreed to cut production by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) for six months from Jan. 1 to support the market.

During the meeting on Friday in Vienna, compliance numbers were reviewed.
Overall compliance with pledged cuts was at 98 percent in March.

According to report, the rate in March represented an increase from February’s level.
Oil prices still declined on Friday, with Brent crude trading below $52 a barrel on concerns that increasing U.S. production and high inventories would thwart the efforts by OPEC and its allies to curb supplies.

The committee’s recommendation that the supply cut deal be extended was not a surprise, after oil ministers from top exporter Saudi Arabia and Kuwait gave a clear signal on Thursday that producers planned to prolong the accord.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday a decision on extending the pact had not yet been taken, but would be discussed with OPEC on May 24. OPEC ministers plus their non-OPEC counterparts are scheduled to meet on May 25.

The meeting also discussed OPEC’s own compliance, which it put at 103 percent, in line with figures published in OPEC’s most recent monthly report.

The panel, which met at OPEC’s Vienna headquarters, is the Joint Technical Committee (JTC) established in January to monitor adherence to supply cuts.