OPEC Secretary General says output cap agreement will produce results if Russia cuts oil production by 70-80%

HOUSTON, March 6. /TASS/. OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo and Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak will discuss the implementation of the agreement on crude output cap by Russian oil producers on March 6, the cartel’s head told TASS on the sidelines of the CERAWeek conference in Houston. "I will meet him (Alexander Novak - TASS) tomorrow," he said, adding that the plan is to focus on the operation of the Russian monitoring committee, and particularly on Rosneft’s compliance with the oil-production agreement. "If they (Russian companies - TASS) can do at least 70 or 80 percent (of the planned amount - TASS) it will show," Barkindo said. Russia’s average daily oil production amounted to 11.109 mln barrels in February 2017, a 0.02% decrease compared with January 2017, and a 1.89% increase compared with February 2016. Overall, the country’s crude output totaled 42.43 mln tonnes in February 2017. OPEC decided at its November 2016 meeting in Vienna to limit production to 32.5 mln barrels per day in the first half of 2017, down 1.2 mln barrels per day from October 2016 production levels, with the possibility of extending this limit for the remainder of the year. In a subsequent meeting on December 10, eleven non-OPEC countries pledged to cut nearly 0.6 mln barrels per day, among them Azerbaijan, Bahrein, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, the Republic of Sudan and South Sudan. Thus, the total crude oil production cut will amount to 1.7-1.8 mln barrels per day in the first half of this year. Russia will abide by its commitments to reduce oil production by 300,000 barrels per day. Read more