KUWAIT CITY, March 26. /TASS/. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in April will discuss recommendations to extend for another six months the deal on cutting the output, draft of the organization's press release reads. The document’s text is obtained by TASS.
"The ministerial committee has recommended OPEC in April presented its recommendations regarding an extension of the agreement's term for stability on the oil market," the document reads.
Despite a certain growth of the global stock, caused by bigger outputs by non-OPEC countries, finishing seasonal maintenance in oil processing, "have been stopped positions of financial players on the market."
"Still, the finishing seasonal maintenance in oil processing, the evident slowdown of the stock in the US, and fewer marine storages would support the undertaken efforts to stabilize the market," the draft press release reads.
On Sunday, the committee did not discuss extending of the output cuts, and only evaluated fulfilment of the current obligations. Earlier reports said, the average cut as of March made 94%. The agreement expires in June, and OPEC will consider an extension at its meeting on May 25 - probably, for another term of six months.
OPEC decided at its November 2016 meeting in Vienna to limit production to 32.5 mln barrels per day in the first half of 2017, down 1.2 mln barrels per day from October 2016 production levels, with the possibility of extending this limit for the remainder of the year.
At a subsequent meeting on December 10, eleven non-OPEC countries pledged to cut nearly 0.6 mln barrels per day, among them Azerbaijan, Bahrein, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, the Republic of Sudan and South Sudan. Thus, the total crude oil production cut will amount to 1.7-1.8 mln barrels per day in the first half of this year.