RPT: PREVIEW - OPEC-Non-OPEC To Discuss Output Deal Compliance In Baku Amid Non-Cartel's Low Conformity

BAKU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th March, 2019) The Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) will gather for the first time in 2019 in Azerbaijan's capital of Baku on Sunday for a two-day session to discuss the implementation of the updated oil output cut deal as well as the agreement's future parameters in order to balance the market.

On Sunday, the Joint Technical Committee will meet to evaluate the overall compliance with the agreement. According to the organization's March report, the total conformity level of the OPEC-14 group stood at 106 percent in February, mostly due to Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Iraq. While OPEC has not yet unveiled non-OPEC's numbers, the International Energy Agency estimated the group's compliance at just 51 percent, with Russia's conformity level at 36 percent.

The JMMC member states � co-chairs Saudi Arabia and Russia, as well as Kuwait, Oman, Venezuela, Algeria and Iraq � are all set to hold bilateral meetings on Sunday and attend an informal dinner prior to the official meeting.

On Monday, the JMMC will officially meet to disclose the implementation numbers for the first time since Venezuela assumed the OPEC presidency in 2019. Despite the ongoing crisis in the country, OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo reiterated that Venezuelan Oil Minister Manuel Quevedo would retain his ceremonial status of the organization's president. Quevedo's planned visit to Baku was also confirmed by the Azerbaijani Energy Ministry.

On December 7, participants of the OPEC-non-OPEC oil output cut deal agreed to reduce overall production by 1.2 million barrels per day for six months starting from 2019, with a view to signing the charter on future long-term cooperation in the first quarter of 2019. OPEC nations will cut production by 800,000 barrels per day and non-OPEC countries by 400,000 barrels per day.

The JMMC was originally set up by Algeria, Kuwait, Oman, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela to monitor compliance with oil output cuts after they were first agreed in late 2016.