OPEC Sec-Gen Says 'It Is Early' to Talk About Extension of Oil Output Cut Deal

It is still early to talk about the extension of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil output cut deal as it is necessary to look at the results, which have been achieved so far, OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo said.

HOUSTON (Sputnik) — Last November in Vienna, the 14 members of the OPEC cartel agreed upon a deal to cut production as of January 1 by about 1.2 million barrels per day, or about 4.5 percent of production, to 32.5 million barrels per day.

"It's very premature at the moment. When we meet in May, we'll be able to look at the numbers and see… to what extent we have achieved all," Barkindo told reporters during the CERAWeek energy conference in the US city of Houston.

According to a recent OPEC report, world oil supply fell by over one million barrels per day in January, averaging at 95.75 million barrels per day.

In November 2016, the OPEC states reached an agreement to cut oil production by 1.2 million barrels per day for the first half of 2017 to support the global oil prices. The accord was also supported by 11 non-cartel states, including Russia and Kazakhstan, which had joined the deal promising to reduce their oil output by 558,000 barrels per day. The deal was reached for a six-month period with a possibility to extend it.

According to the OPEC's monthly report made in February, the global oil production reduced by more than 1 million barrels per day in January, however, the output was still higher than the average one of 2016.