Saudi Minister Hopes More Countries To Join OPEC-Non-OPEC In Signing New Deal In December

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Falih expressed hope Tuesday that more countries would join the signing of a new declaration of cooperation among the countries participating in the Vienna agreement on oil production cuts.

RIYADH (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd October, 2018) Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Falih expressed hope Tuesday that more countries would join the signing of a new declaration of cooperation among the countries participating in the Vienna agreement on oil production cuts.

In 2016, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and several non-OPEC oil producers agreed to cut output by a total of 1.8 million barrels per day in an effort to stabilize global oil prices. The agreement, which came into effect in 2017, has been extended twice since then and will remain in force until the end of 2018.

"We are hoping in December to ink an agreement between, at least, 25 countries that are signatories, hoping more countries to join with the objective to monitor and stabilize the market," Falih said at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference in Riyadh.

He added that the OPEC-non-OPEC oil production volume beyond 2018 would depend on the market's fundamentals.

"For January we will decide. If there are any disruptions, especially with Iran sanctions looming, then we will continue with the mindset we have now [providing for boosting oil output] ... If we have the scenario of 2014 [of low oil prices], then we will have a mechanism to quickly gather," the Saudi minister said.

In September, Falih said at the meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) in Algiers that the OPEC-non-OPEC draft declaration of cooperation was ready and set to go through finalization and approval in December.