OPEC agrees to deepest cut since 2008, Iran exempt: Minister

Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have agreed to fresh cuts to the global oil production, says Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, adding that the country would remain exempt from the cuts described as the deepest since the 2008 global financial crisis.

According to Press TV, Zanganeh said on Thursday after an OPEC meeting in Vienna that total new cuts agreed by the oil producing bloc will be 1.5 million barrel per day (bpd) for the second quarter of 2020.

That will be in addition to 2.1 million bpd of reduction to the global supply agreed before by OPEC members and allies, a grouping known as OPEC+, a quota which will be extended to the end of 2020.

OPEC members now expect Russia, one of the biggest producers in OPEC+, to contribute to at least a third of the new cuts which are aimed at balancing the international markets where demand has been hit by a coronavirus outbreak in China and other countries.

Russian authorities had earlier signaled they would disagree to 500,000 bpd of new cuts while insisting that an extension to the current reduction might be possible.

Russia’s currency fell 0.7% on Thursday on the uncertainty surrounding Moscow’s position to the cuts. Russia’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, however, said that Moscow was ready for the scenario where oil prices would fall if OPEC+ members disagree on the cuts.

Leading OPEC countries, including Saudi Arabia, have said that the new cuts will only work if Russia joins in.

SS