MOSCOW, October 26. /TASS/. A final decision on the oil production cut deal reached by OPEC national and partners, including Russia, will be taken in early 2018 although this matter will be in focus of a regular OPEC+ meeting on November 30, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told RBC television channel on Thursday.
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"We plan to get back to that matter to take a decision at the beginning of the next year, although it is planned to discuss it in November," he said.
According to the minister, neither of the options, i.e. closing the deal, which expires on March 31 and its extension, are ruled out. "It will depend on the market situation. It is positive," he said, adding that if balance of global oil reserves is reached by April there will be no need in its extension.
In late 2016, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and 11 oil exporting countries that are not its members, including Russia, reached an agreement to cut daily oil production by 1.8 million barrels a day in the first six months of 2017 (on October 2016). In May 2017, all the participants in the deal agreed to extend it till April 2018, with countries’ quotas remaining as they were initially agreed.