MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Luaibi held a meeting with Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Falih in Baghdad.
According to the Financial Times news outlet, at a press conference following the Baghdad meeting, the Iraqi official said that he would back the proposal of Moscow and Riyadh.
In 2016, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reached an agreement in Vienna to cut oil production by 1.2 million barrels per day in the first half of 2017 in an effort to boost global oil prices. The deal was backed by several non-cartel states, including Russia.
On May 15, 2017, Russian and Saudi energy ministers said in a joint statement that Moscow and Riyadh intended to propose a 9-month extension of the current Vienna agreement on oil output cuts on the existing conditions at the OPEC ministerial meeting. According to Algerian Energy Minister Noureddine Boutarfa, the majority of OPEC states support the possible 9-month extension of the 2016 agreements.
