Russia, Saudi Arabia favor continuing oil output cut: minister

APD NEWS

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Russia and Saudi Arabia support the oil output cut deal, and the deal's future should be discussed closer to its expiry date, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday.

"We agreed that in principle we have such an option, and there are such opportunities regarding the extension," Novak told Rossiya 24 television channel.

He also said the agreement would be extended unless the market became balanced.

In November 2016, the 14-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed to reduce oil production collectively by 1.2 million barrels per day.

A month later, 11 non-OPEC countries, including Russia, also agreed to cut their production by a total of 558,000 barrels per day.

Initially, the agreement was for the first half of 2017. In May, it was extended by another nine months and would now end in March 2018.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)