MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Monday, Russian and Saudi energy ministers said in a joint statement that Moscow and Riyadh intended to propose a 9-month extension of the current Vienna agreement on oil output cuts on the existing conditions at the OPEC ministerial meeting in late May.
"The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela supports the joint proposal of Saudi Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Falih and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak to extend for nine months the agreement on voluntary oil output cuts signed by 24 countries, including non-OPEC members, in December 2016 in order to stabilize the world oil market," the statement read.
The ministry stressed that the agreement on oil output cuts had a positive impact on oil prices, adding that additional steps to ensure market stability in the long term were still needed as global commercial oil reserves were above their five-year average.
In November 2016, OPEC member states reached an agreement to cut oil production by 1.2 million barrels per day in the first half of 2017 to boost global oil prices. The deal prescribes the possibility of extension.
The OPEC agreement was supported by 11 non-OPEC states, which joined the deal by promising to jointly reduce oil output by 558,000 barrels per day. Russia pledged to cut production by 300,000 barrels daily. The OPEC has already implemented its commitment while non-cartel countries have implemented over half of the agreed cuts.
