Minister: No decision to prolong OPEC+ deal until 2019-end

MOSCOW, Mar 1 (PRIME) -- The OPEC and non-OPEC states need to analyze more data before deciding to prolong an OPEC+ oil output reduction deal until the end of 2019, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday ahead of his meeting with CEOs of Russian oil companies to discuss the deal.

“Firstly, this is a ministerial decision, it cannot be made in Baku alone. It is too early to speak about it in general, only two months have passed. We have to look at how the situation evolves during the first and the second quarter, to look at the forecast for the summer and autumn. It is unprofessional to announce estimates beforehand,” he told reporters.

In November 2016, OPEC and non-OPEC states including Russia first agreed to reduce their oil output to rebalance the market. In December 2018, the participants of the deal decided to cut production by an additional 800,000 barrels per day for OPEC and 400,000 barrels per day for non-OPEC states, including 230,000 barrels per day for Russia, from the level of October 2018.

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