OPEC and Partners Agree on Oil Output Cut

Ali al-Saadi—AFP

Iraq’s oil minister reports an agreed combined cut of 1.2 million barrels a day to overcome market glut

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and partner countries including Russia agreed on Friday to cut oil output by a combined 1.2 million barrels a day in the hope of boosting prices, Iraq’s oil minister said.

“We’ll cut 1.2 million bpd total,” Thamer Abbas al-Ghadhban told reporters after a meeting in Vienna.

He said the amount—equivalent to just over one percent of global production—would comprise an 800,000 bpd reduction by the 14 members of OPEC and 400,000 by non-cartel partners, including Russia.

The cut will be based on October output and will be subject to review in April, said a spokesman for the Vienna meeting, Tafal al-Nasr.

OPEC and its partners, which together account for around half of global output, say a glut in the market has led to oil prices falling by more than 30 percent in two months.