MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The energy ministers of OPEC and non-OPEC countries agree that the decision on the future of the oil output cut deal should be made closer to its completion, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Friday.
"We agreed that in principle we have such an option, and there are such opportunities regarding the extension, but it is expedient to make a decision closer to the completion of the deal in order to understand the forecasts and the market condition more clearly," Novak said.
He said the positions of Russia and Saudi Arabia on the deal were similar: the agreement would be extended unless the market became balanced.
The minister added that Rosneft and Saudi Aramco were considering joint projects in oil refining in both Russia and abroad, as well as trading.
“There are joint projects which are being considered, including in participation in oil refining capacities, joint trading of petroleum products, oil,” he told the Rossiya 24 television channel.
A meeting of the Russia-Saudi Arabia intergovernmental commission will take place in Riyadh on November 2, Novak said.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in November 2016 agreed in Vienna to reduce its production by 1.2 million barrels per day from the October 2016 level. Eleven non-OPEC countries in December 2016 agreed to cut their production by a total of 558,000 barrels per day, including Russia by 300,000 bpd. The agreement was concluded for the first half of 2017. In May 2017 it was extended by nine months — until the end of March 2018.
