OPEC AND RUSSIA CUTTING

FT - Russia's readiness to back an extension of the supply cuts agreement between Opec and its allies until the end of 2018 has prompted oil ministers to seek widespread support for the proposal, Opec's secretary-general said on Thursday.

Mohammad Barkindo said Saudi Arabia's energy minister Khalid al-Falih and his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak were taking their "cue" from Russia's president Vladimir Putin and "engaging" the other participating countries.

The latest remarks are the strongest indication yet that the production cuts, which came into effect in January and were enacted with the support of the highest authorities in Russia and Saudi Arabia, could be extended until the end of 2018.

"He gave a very pointed answer, which we are taking very seriously — this was the president talking," said Mr Barkindo about the Russian president's comments this month.

When asked how long a potential extension could be, Mr Putin had said: "If we are talking about timeframes, then until the end of 2018 as a minimum."

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Oil & Money conference in London, Mr Barkindo said Mr Falih was on a tour of Opec member countries "to build consensus" while Mr Novak was speaking with nations outside of the cartel.

Oil ministers will meet next month in Vienna.

Saudi Arabia and Russia, countries that produce roughly a fifth of global oil supplies, reaffirmed their pledge to shrink a global oil glut when the leaders of the two energy superpowers met in Moscow early in October.

Mr Barkindo said the supply curbs, alongside robust demand for crude, were helping to reduce global excess oil inventories. "There has been a massive drainage of oil tanks across all regions, in terms of both crude and [refined] products."

Brent crude, the international benchmark, has risen more than 20 per cent since the cuts were first agreed late last year to just over $57 a barrel.

"There is no doubt that the market is rebalancing at an accelerating pace," said Mr Barkindo. "Stability is steadily returning and there is far more light at the end of the dark tunnel."

Opec countries and producers from outside the cartel such as Russia agreed to curb output by about 1.8m barrels a day from January for an initial six-month period. This was later extended until March 2018.

The pact, Mr Barkindo said, had "laid the much-needed foundations" for oil market stability. "It is vital that this platform is not only retained, but built upon," he added.

Mr Barkindo suggested it was unlikely that Libya and Nigeria, which have been exempt from the cuts deal because of conflict in both nations, would be brought into the supply cuts deal next month.

"They still have significant challenges of funding, of security, and other challenges," he said.

Some oil market participants have said increases in output from these countries during this year had somewhat undermined the impact of supply cuts on the oil market. Robust US shale production and poor conformity from several participating members in the deal have also kept a ceiling on prices.

-----

Earlier:

2017, October, 16, 11:40:00 OPEC EXPECTATION The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia have been cutting oil production this year to bring fuel inventories in industrialized nations back in line with the five-year average.

2017, October, 6, 12:50:00 NEW OIL COALITION As the world's two largest oil producers, Saudi Arabia and Russia have led the 24-country OPEC/non-OPEC coalition in its 1.8 million b/d supply cut, which is scheduled to end in March.

2017, August, 31, 12:25:00 SAUDIS - RUSSIA OIL DEAL Top oil producers Saudi Arabia and Russia are pushing to extend their deal to limit crude oil production for another three months, which would leave the output deal between OPEC and non-OPEC producers in place through the end of June, people familiar with the matter said.

2017, August, 16, 09:30:00 OPEC: GLOBAL OIL DEMAND WILL UP TO 97.8 MBD OPEC said world oil demand in 2018 will grow 1.28 million b/d from 2017 levels, meaning that total oil consumption is expected to hit a new record high of 97.8 million b/d in 2018.

2017, August, 14, 14:25:00 OPEC OIL PRODUCTION UP 173 TBD Total crude oil production from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries increased 173,000 b/d month-over-month in July to average 32.87 million b/d.

2017, July, 7, 08:10:00 MARKET WILL BE BETTER Novak said prices had room to rise from current levels and said inventories in industrialized nations were expected to ease back to the five-year average thanks to the decision by OPEC and its allies to extend supply curbs from the first half of 2017 to the first quarter of 2018. Русский | English

2017, June, 30, 08:35:00 MORE MONEY FOR OPEC OPEC's first output cut in eight years has earned the group $1.64 billion a day so far this year, up more than 10 percent from the second half of 2016, according to Reuters calculations based on OPEC figures for average production and its crude basket price up until June 20.