Al-Falih says oil output deal needs cooperation beyond 2018

Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Khalid Al-Falih on Sunday said there is a need to discuss “longer cooperation” on the OPEC-led production agreement signed, hinting at the possibility that the deal could extend beyond 2018.

“We should not limit our efforts to 2018 — we need to talk about a longer framework of cooperation,” Reuters quoted Al-Falih as saying on the sidelines of the meeting of Joint Ministerial Committee in Oman.

The output-cut deal, signed by 24 countries including OPEC members and other major producers including Russia, aims to slash 1.8 million barrels a day (bpd) from the market to ease oversupply and bolster prices.

The agreement is set to expire at the end of this year.

The compliance level to the output deal between Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and external major producers stood at 125 percent in December, Kuwait’s Oil Minister Bakheet Al-Rashidi said ahead of the meeting in Oman.