OPEC committee urges output cut over coronavirus

A committee appointed by the OPEC club of oil-producing countries and its allies to study the effects of coronavirus recommended additional output cuts yesterday, Algeria’s energy minister said.

“The coronavirus epidemic has had a negative impact on economic activity, notably in transport, tourism and industry, particularly in China,” Mohamed Arkab, who is also president of the conference of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, said in a statement. Delegates of OPEC and other oil producers including Russia -- together known as OPEC+ -- have been in a “joint technical committee” meeting in Vienna this week to discuss cutting production, amid fears of the coronavirus situation in oil consumer China affecting the market.

The joint technical committee “recommended extending until the end of 2020 the current production reduction agreement... and proceeding with an additional reduction in production until the end of the second quarter of 2020,” Arkab said. Arkab added that he supported the conclusions of the committee, which would continue consultations among OPEC+ states to seek mutually agreeable solutions “to quickly stabilise the oil markets and face the current crisis”.