OPEC+ panel to meet to discuss output cuts, oil price decline amid Covid-19

OPEC and allies are scheduled to hold an online meet to discuss compliance with their agreed output cuts and demand trends amid falling oil prices and a faltering economic recovery outlook

DUBAI/LONDON/MOSCOW (Reuters) - OPEC and allies, led by Russia, are scheduled to hold an online meet on Thursday to discuss compliance with their agreed output cuts and demand trends amid falling oil prices and a faltering economic recovery outlook.

A panel of key producers including Saudi Arabia and Russia from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, is expected to keep their current output reduction target of 7.7 million barrels per day (bpd), or around 8% of global demand.

They will also likely press laggards such as Iraq, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates to cut more barrels to compensate for overproduction.

The meeting, known as the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC), is expected to start at 1200 GMT, OPEC+ sources said.

OPEC+ producers have been reducing production since January 2017 to help support prices and reduce global oil stockpiles. They increased their cuts to a record 9.7 million bpd from May to July after demand plunged in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

The group has called on Iraq and others to pump below their quota in September to compensate for overproduction between May and July.

 

(Reporting by Reuters OPEC team; writing by Rania El Gamal; editing by Jason Neely)