Global pact on cuts in push to increase oil prices takes shape

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The OPEC oil cartel and nations including Russia have agreed to boost oil prices by cutting as much as 10 million barrels a day in production, or a tenth of global supply. More countries, including the United States, were discussing Friday their own cuts in what would be an unprecedented global pact to stabilize the market.

The agreement between OPEC and partner countries aims to cut 10 million barrels per day until July, then 8 million barrels per day through the end of the year, and 6 million a day for 16 months beginning in 2021.

Mexico had initially blocked the deal but its president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said Friday that he had agreed with President Donald Trump that the U.S. will compensate what Mexico cannot add to the proposed cuts.

Mexico had offered to cut production by 100,000 barrels per day, but OPEC wanted more of a sacrifice. So the U.S. agreed to fill in the gap and cut its production by 250,000 to 300,000 barrels per day, “which we’ve already done, by the way,” Trump said.

The U.S. is on track for a production decline of 2 million to 3 million barrels per day, said Dan Brouillette, secretary of the U.S. Energy Department.

Altogether, the agreements could cut production by 15 million barrels a day from May through June, Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said on state TV channel Rossiya-24. That’s about 15% of world production.

International benchmark Brent crude was around $32 a barrel as of Friday, while the U.S. benchmark West Texas crude closed under $23.