OPEC agreed on Monday to extend oil supply cuts until March 2020, three OPEC sources said, as the group’s members overcame their differences in order to prop up the price of crude amid a weakening global economy and soaring U.S. production.
OPEC’s 14 member nations and a group of 10 countries led by Russia are gathering Monday and Tuesday for a high-stakes meeting in Vienna to discuss ways to balance the global oil market. Saudi Arabia—OPEC’s de facto leader—and Russia have already agreed to maintain the output cuts at current volumes, which run at around 1.2 million barrels a day.
The move will likely anger U.S. President Donald Trump, who has demanded OPEC leader Saudi Arabia supply more oil and help reduce prices at the pump if Riyadh wants U.S. military support in its standoff with arch-rival Iran.
Benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 has climbed more than 25% so far this year after the White House tightened sanctions on OPEC members Venezuela and Iran, slashing their oil exports.
OPEC and its allies led by Russia have been reducing oil output since 2017 to prevent prices from sliding amid soaring production from the United States, which has overtaken Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world’s top producer.
