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Talks with Mexico to continue, but OPEC + deal preserved — sources

Mexico Energy Minister Rocio Nahle disagreed with the proposed OPEC+ oil cuts and left the video conversation

MOSCOW, April 10. /TASS/. The OPEC+ agreement to reduce oil production by 10 million barrels per day will be preserved despite Mexico’s withdrawal from the deal, sources told TASS on Friday.

"The deal is preserved, but the agreement is now conditional. I think we will try to win Mexico’s consent during the G20 talks on Friday," one of the sources said.

Another source confirmed this information, adding that the OPEC+ talks still continue.

A source taking part in the ongoing negotiations told TASS earlier on Friday that Mexican Energy Minister Rocio Nahle disagreed to the proposed OPEC+ oil cuts and left the video conversation, "enraged."

TASS sources also said the negotiations continued even after the Nahle withdrew from the conversation.

The OPEC+ talks in the format of a video conference began at 17:00 Moscow time on April 9 and continued overnight. TASS sources said that the participants agreed to cut their combined oil production by 10 barrels per day in May-June. However, during the discussion on each country’s quotas, Mexico rejected the proposed reduction of 400,000 barrels per day from the figures of October 2018.

One of the sources said Mexico disagreed with the basic level for the reduction. During the talks, Nahle argued that her country’s oil output was higher recently, and, therefore, the country should reduce less.

In line with the OPEC+ plan, Mexico was supposed to reduce its oil production from the basic figure of 1.75 million barrels per day. However, according to the International Energy Agency, the country produced 1.95 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter of 2019.