Zanganeh:

OPEC, allies agree to cut output by 10mn bpd

TEHRAN (defapress) – Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh informed on Friday that OPEC and its allies have agreed on a historic production cut that would take 10 million barrels per day offline as the coronavirus pandemic saps demand for crude.

News ID: 80770

Date: 10 April 2020 - 14:26

He made the remarks after the 10-hour OPEC+ extraordinary meeting, saying that other oil producers, the US, Brazil and Canada, are to join OPEC in this decision.

Zanganeh noted that the decision is a two-year one and the output cut is the biggest one in OPEC and non-OPEC history.

A statement released by OPEC following the meeting outlined details of the cuts but notes the measures were “agreed by all the OPEC and non-OPEC oil producing countries participating in the Declaration of Cooperation, with the exception of Mexico, and as a result, the agreement is conditional on the consent of Mexico.”

The extraordinary meeting kicked off around 10:30 a.m. ET and stretched into the evening.

Following the meeting, Mexico’s Secretary of Energy Rocío Nahle said in a tweet that the country would be willing to cut production by 100,000 barrels per day for the next two months. OPEC+ had reportedly asked for a cut of 400,000 barrels per day, according to Reuters.

OPEC said in a statement that the initial 10 million barrels per day cut would last in May and June, before tapering to 8 million barrels per day for the rest of the year. Beginning in January 2021, the cuts would decrease to 6 million barrels per day, which would continue through April 2022, according to the statement.

The group did call on other major producers to cut production in a further bid to prop up prices.

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