OPEC needs March meeting to decide on cut extension: Novak

Moscow — OPEC+ members will need to meet in March to assess market conditions and decide on an extension of the oil output agreement, Russia energy minister Alexander Novak said Wednesday.

According to a report by the TASS news agency, key OPEC+ countries have been considering postponing the next group meeting until June to have a better understanding of the market. The alliance is currently scheduled to meet again March 5-6 in Vienna to decide on the future of the deal that expires in April.

However, several sources have also told Platts that there are no changes to the meeting date at the moment.

"Haven't heard anything like this," one Gulf OPEC delegate said.

Russia, a key non-OPEC producer, hasn't received any proposals on rescheduling the ministerial conference, the Russian energy minister told reporters.

"The agreement still stands that we are meeting in March and no one has canceled it. Moreover, the deal is valid until April 1 and we need to meet in March in order to see the current situation and determine further joint actions," Novak said, when asked if the OPEC+ deal might be extended until June without a ministerial meeting in March.

OPEC, Russia and nine other countries are entering their fourth year of production cuts aimed at supporting oil prices, with the current deal that went into force January 1 calling on the coalition to slash 1.7 million b/d of output through March. Saudi Arabia has also pledged to cut a further 400,000 b/d if all other members respect their production quotas.