By Annmarie Hordern, Nayla Razzouk and Golnar Motevalli
At a meeting in Vienna, members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and all its allies in the OPEC+ coalition have now settled on maintaining quotas for another nine months. The rollover of curbs into a fourth year shows producers are ever more bogged down in a struggle to wrest control of the market from the booming U.S. shale industry.
OPEC+ Agrees on Nine-Month Extension (12:13 p.m. CET)
All OPEC+ countries endorsed the deal reached Monday, Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Khalid Al-Falih said in the Austrian capital. The kingdom itself has committed to deeper cuts than its cap requires in an effort to drain stockpiles.
An OPEC+ panel found that inventories in industrialized countries were about 25 million barrels above the five-year average in May, according to Al-Falih. The group is now considering a new measure for stockpiles using the 2010-2014 average, which would put the surplus at 240 million barrels, he said.
OPEC+ Ministers Sign Cooperation Charter (11:44 a.m. CET)
OPEC+ ministers have been signing a charter for long-term cooperation during the opening session of Tuesday’s meeting, said delegates. The document was drafted on Monday by OPEC ministers and approved by the group after some changes to resolve objections from Iran. It creates a platform for regular discussions, said Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak.
Iran Says Deeper Cuts May Be Needed (10:51 a.m. CET)
Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh suggested Tuesday that OPEC+ may need to make deeper oil-output cuts than the current 1.2 million barrels a day at some point as it continues to lose market share to U.S. shale.
Iran itself — subject to American sanctions — is working “day and night” to find ways to export its crude, Zanganeh said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Vienna.
Ministers Confident of Deal (10:14 a.m. CET)
OPEC ministers arriving for talks with their non-OPEC allies are universally confident that they will finalize a nine-month extension to production cuts. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih is “absolutely” sure that non-members including Russia will ratify the accord, while his counterpart from the United Arab Emirates Suhail Al Mazrouei told reporters he is “very confident.” Mustafa Sanalla, chairman of Libya’s National Oil Co., is sure there will be a deal.
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