The negotiations of OPEC+ countries were effective and resulted in a new deal agreed for 2 years with a gradual decrease in oil production cuts and all 23 countries including Mexico participating in it, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th April, 2020) The negotiations of OPEC+ countries were effective and resulted in a new deal agreed for 2 years with a gradual decrease in oil production cuts and all 23 countries including Mexico participating in it, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday.
"Intensive negotiations took place between OPEC member states and non-members. Yesterday, during a video conference, we sat for almost 10 hours discussing the market situation and measures that need to be taken in the face of a significant drop in demand, market oversupply, falling prices and possibility of running out of storages," Novak told the Rossiya 24 broadcaster after G20 energy ministers' meeting.
The minister added that all countries of the alliance agreed on the need to take decisive measures and to reduce OPEC+ production by a total of 10 million barrels per day in the next two months, May and June.
Then, in the second half of 2020, the production cuts will be eased to 8 million barrels per day, he said.
"This agreement will be valid for two years, and in 2021, the agreement stipulates a reduction of 6 million barrels for all participating countries of the country. These are 23 countries," he added.
Having agreed to reduce oil production, OPEC+ will now monitor the market and take additional measures if necessary, Novak said.
"We will need to monitor the situation on the market, it will certainly change and, if necessary, additional measures will be taken, or production will be restored more quickly by countries, in order to prevent, among other things, an oversupply on the market, because that we must act in the interests of both producers and consumers," Novak said.
The OPEC+ deal, as well as the one that was in effect before April 1, involves 10 OPEC countries: Algeria, Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iraq, Kuwait, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Three more OPEC members � Iran, Libya and Venezuela � are still exempted from production cuts due to political problems.
There are also ten so-called non-OPEC states in the deal � Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, Sudan, and South Sudan. Thus, participation of 23 countries in the agreement means that Mexico remained in it.
