OPEC decided it would extend cuts in oil output by nine months to March 2018 on Thursday, an OPEC delegate said according to a Reuters report.
This comes as the group seeks to curb a global supply overhang which has depressed prices and revenues over the past three years.Official confirmation from the group`s Vienna headquarters appeared to have stalled as OPEC members assessed whether to include Nigeria in the output reduction deal, Reuters reported citing two OPEC delegates. CNBC was unable to verify these sources.Nigerian Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said ahead of the meeting that conceptually his country would not be opposed to joining OPEC supply cuts but stressed Nigeria would have to "wait and see" whether production levels came back to acceptable levels. Nigeria, currently suffering from unrest, had been exempt from supply cuts in the deal agreed by OPEC members and non-members in December and then implemented in the first half of 2017. The proposed cuts are expected to be shared again by non-OPEC producers later on Thursday. Led by Russia, non-OPEC producers had initially curbed output in conjunction with OPEC in the landmark deal.Oil prices extended earlier losses shortly after the reported announcement as traders reacted to the developments. London time, Brent was trading 1.1 percent lower at $53.34 a barrel with the U. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) benchmark edging down by nearly the same amount to sit at $50.Brent and WTI futures prices have tracked 13 percent and 14 percent higher respectively since this month`s lows were reached on May 4. However, stockpiles remain strong and production from non-participating countries, including the U., has been rising, capping crude some way below the $60 a level earmarked by OPEC`s de-facto leader, Saudi Arabia.
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