OPEC Agrees to Extend Oil Output Cuts Deal Until End of 2018 - Delegate

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC oil producers on Thursday agreed to extend their agreement to cut oil output until the end of 2018, a source in one of the delegations participating in the ministerial meeting told Sputnik.

VIENNA (Sputnik) — On Thursday, OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers gathered in Vienna to discuss their deal to restrict oil output and the possible accession of new states to the deal.

Earlier, OPEC increased its forecast for global oil demand to an average of 96.94 million barrels per day (mb/d) this year and by 130 tb/d to average 98.45 mb/d in 2018, according to the organization’s monthly report.

READ MORE: OPEC Revises Upwards Forecast for Russia's crude Oil Output Amid Growing Demand

In 2016, the OPEC countries reached an agreement in Vienna to reduce daily oil production during the first half of 2017 to boost global oil prices. The agreement was also supported by 11 non-OPEC states. In late May, the parties to the agreement agreed to extend the deal until the end of March 2018. The oil-producing states are currently meeting in Vienna to agree on the future of the oil cuts deal.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a permanent, intergovernmental Organization, created at the Baghdad Conference on September 10–14, 1960, by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.