OPEC extends oil output deal by 9 months

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has decided to renew the agreement to limit crude oil production for nine months, starting July 1, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed OPEC delegate.

Official confirmation of the decision is still awaited as OPEC members meet with other major producers, including Russia, who were part of the initial agreement reached last year.

Last year, OPEC had agreed slash its production by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd). Later, non-member producers joined in taking the combined reduction in supply to 1.8 million bpd.

Meanwhile, oil prices declined sharply as hopes of OPEC lowering the output ceiling below the levels decided last year dimmed.

International benchmark Brent crude, which touched a high of $54.63/bbl earlier in the day, had alst dropped to $53.75/bbl. WTI crude was last trading down 0.6 percent at $51.05/bbl.

"There have been suggestions (of deeper cuts), many member countries have indicated flexibility but ... that won't be necessary," Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Khalid Al-Falih was quoted as saying before the meeting started.

He added that OPEC members Nigeria and Libya would continue to remain excluded from cuts as their output remained restricted due to unrest.

Falih also said Saudi Arabia’s oil exports were set to decline steeply from June, helping speed up market rebalancing, the news agency said.