OPEC says to meet non-OPEC producers on Dec 10 in Vienna

LONDON, Dec 5, (RTRS): OPEC will meet non-OPEC countries to finalise a global oil output-limiting pact on Dec 10 in Vienna, the first such meeting since 2002, OPEC’s secretary-general said on Monday.

Mohammed Barkindo announced the meeting plan at a conference in New Delhi, according to a copy of his speech. The meeting had earlier been due to take place in Moscow.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed last week to reduce oil output by around 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) beginning in January in a bid to reduce global oversupply and prop up prices.

It hopes non-OPEC countries will contribute another 600,000 bpd to the cut. Russia has said it will reduce output by around 300,000 bpd.

In Moscow, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak plans to take part in talks between OPEC and non-OPEC countries in Vienna on Dec 10, Russia’s RIA news agency reported on Monday citing a source.

In Tehran, Iran’s oil minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh will attend the meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC members on Dec 10 in Vienna, the ministry’s news agency SHANA said on Monday, as the countries try to finalise a global oil output-limiting pact.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed last week to reduce oil output by around 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) beginning in January in a bid to reduce global oversupply and prop up prices.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan said on Monday it saw no major impact on its crude oil production from OPEC’s output cuts, agreed last week, adding it was ready to cooperate with Baghdad.

The region’s natural resources minister Ashti Hawrami told a conference in London he had yet to hear from Baghdad the exact proposals on output reduction.

“We don’t envisage much impact on the KRG,” Hawrami said.