OPEC to announce cut extension: reports

OPEC delegates have already agreed on extending the global production cut agreement to the end of 2018 and a formal announcement is expected later in the day, international media reported on Thursday.

Delegates in Vienna who requested anonymity told Bloomberg in the early afternoon that they had settled on the basics and were hammering out the details of a review mechanism for June 2018. Other media reported that a deal is expected later in the day.

“OPEC ministers have very clearly said that they’re extremely committed towards getting that inventory overhang down,” Amrita Sen of consultancy firm Energy Aspects told Bloomberg TV. “The questions that are going to get asked now are about Russia’s involvement, which I also think is going to be very much for the full year.”

Oil prices, which have been under pressure in recent days in part due to Russian criticism of the negotiations, rose on the reports. At 1:55pm London time, Brent crude futures for January delivery were at USD 64.05 per barrel, up about 1.5% since Wednesday’s close.