Oil producers trying to define structure for long-term deal: Al-Mazroui

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its partners are trying to define a structure for their proposed long-term agreement on oil supplies, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing Suhail Al-Mazroui, the UAE’s energy minister.

The agreement may not include a provision on cutting or boosting oil output.

Producers aimed to draft the agreement by the end of this year, Al-Mazroui said, adding that it wasn’t a target to do this at OPEC’s upcoming meeting in June.

The OPEC output cut deal has reduced excess supply and helped boost prices to above $70 a barrel, the highest since 2014. Mazroui, however, said investment in new supplies was too low.

“We will know what will be the good price when the market is balanced and we have enough investments. We need to have more investments coming,” he added on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum in India.

The oil cartel, Russia and several other non-OPEC members began to cut supply in January 2017, Argaam reported.

The deal was extended until the end of 2018 and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Reuters last month that Riyadh and Russia were considering a deal to extend their alliance for years or even decades.