OPEC is seeking to achieve a consensus among its members and non-members ahead of a meeting on November 30th, on the duration till which the global pact to curb oil production can be extended, Reuters has reported OPEC’s secretary general as saying on Tuesday.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, plus Russia and nine other producers, are cutting oil output by about 1.8mn barrels per day (bpd) until March 2018 in an effort to eradicate a supply glut that has weighed on prices since early-2015.
The deal has supported prices, which are trading at a more than two-year high – with Brent crude selling at almost $64 a barrel (as of today), but an overhang of reserve stockpiles has yet to be fully mitigated and producers are considering extending the deal at the upcoming meeting.
“Extensive consultations are currently ongoing to reach some consensus before November 30th on the duration beyond the March 2018 deadline,” OPEC’s Mohammad Barkindo told reporters.
“I have not heard so far any participating country that is violently objecting to extending the decision,” he said.
The producers are in the process of inviting other countries to the November 30 meeting in Vienna, Barkindo said, with a view to joining the deal. He declined to name the countries concerned.
