OPEC+ Members States Agree To Reduce Oil Production By 10Mln Bpd In May-June - Source

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th April, 2020) The OPEC+ countries have chosen to cut oil production by 22 percent or 10 million barrels per day in the months of May through June, followed by a consecutive volume reduction, a source in one of the delegations participating in the OPEC+ meeting told Sputnik on Thursday.

"The meeting is still in progress ... But now the deal looks like this ... OPEC+ will cut production by 10 million barrels per day in May-June. In July-December - by 8 million barrels per day, then by 6 million from January 2021 to April ... Iran, Libya and Venezuela are excluded," the source said.

The source noted that countries would reduce oil production by 22 percent, while for Russia and Saudi Arabia, the basic level from which the reduction would be measured was 11.3 million barrels per day. In this scenario, Russia and Saudi Arabia will be required to produce no more than 8.

8 million barrels per day in May-June 2020.

According to the source, the scenario in which the production is cut by 11 million barrels per day by all member states is currently not being discussed. Other non-OPEC producers will reduce their production by 5 million barrels per day, the source added.

Earlier in the day, energy ministers from the OPEC group of oil-exporting countries, Russia and other oil producers began a video conference to discuss ways to shore up oil prices amid global production glut and a coronavirus-driven decline in demand.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said at the meeting that all oil producers must work together to address the growing overproduction as the pandemic continues to weigh down on the global economy. Saudi Arabia has compounded the crisis by flooding the market with cheap oil after the OPEC+ deal on output cuts collapsed last month.