Moscow — Oil ministers of OPEC and non-OPEC countries, a group known as OPEC+, will next meet in Vienna on March 6 as initially planned, a senior Russian energy ministry official said on Tuesday.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers had been considering bringing forward their next meeting to February from the beginning of March after oil demand was hit by coronavirus outbreak in China.
Pavel Sorokin, Russian deputy energy minister, told Reuters the ministry still expected the meeting to take place on March 6, as announced by OPEC in December.
OPEC has been trying to persuade Russia to join deeper oil production cuts, on which Moscow has said it will disclose its stance in the coming days.
Most Russian firms want the OPEC+ deal to be extended into the second quarter after it expires at the end of March.
Also Read: Putin keeps OPEC+ waiting for decision on output cuts
OPEC+ has since Jan. 1 implemented a deal to cut output by 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) to help the market, while Saudi Arabia has also committed to voluntary cuts of 400,000 bpd.
Last week, OPEC cut its forecast for global growth in oil demand this year due to the coronavirus outbreak.
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– Reuters