OPEC cancels April meeting on output cut compliance

The joint committee of OPEC and non-OPEC ministers on Monday called off a meeting planned for Apr. 17-18, keeping the alliance’s price-boosting output cuts in place until at least June 25.

The meeting cancellation allows the oil cartel to assess the impact of United States’ sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, OPEC said in a statement.

“The group is delaying its decision because it expects the oil market to remain oversupplied through H1 2019,” Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said at a committee meeting in Azerbaijan.

OPEC said in an earlier statement that figures show over 90 percent compliance with supply cuts in February.

OPEC secretary general Mohammad Barkindo on Sunday said compliance with a supply cut agreement between OPEC and non-OPEC members was improving, adding that this would help the oil market to weather oil stock build-up.

The group first began slashing production in 2017, but raised supply caps last June as oil prices rose to almost four-year highs and the US prepared to sanction Iran, then OPEC’s third biggest producer.