To boost confidence in oil cut, OPEC issues quota list

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LONDON (Reuters) – OPEC on Friday published a list of oil production cuts by its members and other major producers for the six months to June, an effort to boost confidence in the move designed to avoid a supply glut in 2019.

In a statement, an OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial panel also called on participating members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies to “redouble their efforts in the full and timely implementation” of the move.

Worried by falling prices and rising supply, the producer group known as OPEC+ agreed in December to return to output cuts. They pledged to lower supply by about 1.2 million barrels per day from Jan. 1 2019, of which OPEC’s share is 800,000 bpd.

The move to make the quotas public reflects an effort by the producers to increase credibility of the deal. OPEC had initially given few details on how it would work and sources had said quotas would not be released.

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“The oil industry cannot afford to relapse into another downturn,” OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo, who had been urging that the list be issued, told Reuters on Thursday.

The statement said the panel, called the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC), will study the production cuts each month and confirmed that it will meet in Baku, Azerbaijan on March 18.

In the first half of 2019, OPEC and its allies will cut oil output by 1.195 million bpd to 43.874 million bpd. The full OPEC+ group will meet on April 17-18 in Vienna to decide whether to extend the agreement beyond June.

Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla, writing by Nidhi Verma, Editing by Dale Hudson and David Evans