Extension of oil production cut to speed up market recovery: Russian energy ministry

The extension of the Vienna agreement on the reduction of oil output will facilitate the global oil market to regain a healthy condition, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Monday.

"Russia expresses its full solidarity with the efforts of its partners aimed at re-balancing the market and believes that the joint initiative to stabilize the world oil market is currently effective," Novak was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying.

Maximum conformity and a seasonal pick-up in demand will further enhance the initiative's positive impact on the market in the coming months, he said.

"We are discussing various options, and we believe that an extension for a longer period will help speed up the return of markets to a healthier state," Novak said.

To shore up weak oil prices, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and 11 non-OPEC states, including Russia, agreed during a meeting in Vienna in November 2016 to trim oil production by a total of 1.8 million barrels per day for the first half of 2017.

Under the deal, Russia pledged to reduce oil output by up to 300,000 barrels per day.

The energy ministry said last week that Russia's oil output cut as of May 1 totaled 300,790 barrels per day below the October level. Endit