Draft deal on oil output cuts due in days: Iran minister

Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh says a draft agreement on massive cuts to the global oil supply would be finalized in a matter of days after major producers around the world agreed to reduce output to control the prices in the markets.

Zanganeh said on Friday the draft agreement on cuts agreed between members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, a grouping known as OPEC+, will be publicized after some final talks with Mexico, the country which has yet to join the collective cuts.

“The draft for final statement of the ninth emergency meeting of OPEC+ has been compiled and it is expected to be published in the coming days after a final review,” said Zanganeh, making a reference to the 10-hour meeting held via videoconference that finished earlier on Friday.

Iran, a major oil producer whose crude exports have been significantly affected by US sanctions, is exempt from the new cuts along with Libya and Venezuela.

Zanganeh, a long-serving oil minister with years of experience in OPEC meetings, said the planned new cuts, which could amount to 15 million barrels per day (bpd) and would last for two years, are unprecedented in the oil production history.

“This is among the most unprecedented figures for output cuts in the history of OPEC and non-OPEC.”

Oil prices climb on optimism OPEC+ meeting will result in supply cut

Oil prices rose Thursday as the world’s largest oil producers are expected to agree to slash output amid the coronavirus pandemic.

According to reports and the Friday statement by the Iranian oil minister, the OPEC+ members have agreed to cut production by 10 million bpd from May to June and then by 8 million bpd from July to December. The cuts will then be fixed at 6 million bpd from January 2021 to April 2022.

The OPEC+ members have asked other major producers like the United States for a further 5 million bpd of cuts.