During the recent press conference, Saudi Arabian Minister of Energy, Industry, and Mineral Resources Khalid A. Al-Falih told the reporters that the OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers are now actively discussing the possibility of extending the so-called Vienna Accord until March 2018, with the same quota of 1,8 million barrels a day.
While Saudi Arabia is advocating this idea, the minister hopes that other fellow OPEC members and their non-OPEC peers will also support the idea, thereby resulting in a positive resolution during the forthcoming OPEC summit in Vienna scheduled for May 25, 2017. For now, Russia also seems to be advocating the plan to extend the deal for 9 more months.
Both Russia and Saudi Arabia are convinced that this step is really required to back stable oil prices at higher levels along with letting oil producers feel more confident regarding their future.
On top of that, they report that the global reserves of crude oil have been decreasing rapidly since April and keep on doing so in May according to seasonal factors. At the same time, the global demand for crude oil seems to be growing all around the world. The increase is said to be making up for the increasing supply from those oil nations that are not participating in the Vienna Accord.
By the way, all the Russian oil companies as well as foreign oil companies working in Russia support the idea of extending the oil deal for 9 more months. For now, Russia and Saudi Arabia have been committed to discussing the deal extension with their peers to reach the unity of thoughts and actions later this month during the summit when it’s time to make the final decision.
