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REUTERS

Opec has agreed to keep production cuts in place until the first quarter next year following a key meeting of the cartel in Vienna on Thursday, according to a report.

 

The group of major producers will maintain current cuts to output for nine months until March, Reuters reported, citing an unidentified Opec delegate.

 

The report contended that the cuts are likely to be shared by Opec - with Saudi Arabia as its de facto leader - and a dozen non-Opec nations, led mainly by Russia.

 

It is not known if Opec has agreed to keep cuts at the current level or make deeper cuts.

 

Opec and major non-Opec nations put in place production cuts at the start of this year in a bid to stabilise oil prices. As a consequence Brent crude has largely sat around the $50 per barrel mark in recent months, with the price at around $54 on Thursday morning ahead of the Opec meeting in the Austrian capital.

 

The price stabilisation has also had the effect of encouraging North American tight oil producers to ramp up drilling and production, with continued high US stocks keeping the price from rising much faster or higher than it has done.

 

Thursday's meeting also saw Equatorial Guinea lined up to become the latest Opec member. The tiny West African nation, which is a comparatively large oil and gas producer, applied for membership in January, when Open and non-Opec members put in place the 1.8 million barrels per day reduction.

 

Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima said on Thursday: “Equatorial Guinea’s joining of Opec is a triumph. This is a proud moment for us.

 

"There has never been a more important time to stand together and it is our honour to stand with Opec as a positive force in global energy. We will use this platform to advance the interests of all African oil and gas explorers and producers and all Opec members."