Oil cartel OPEC plans to meet with representatives from non-OPEC countries next month as they decide whether to extend supply cuts into the second half of the year.
Sources claim that the meeting will take place on the same day as OPEC’s scheduled May 25 conference.
Ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will convene at their Vienna headquarters for joint talks with non-OPEC oil ministers, sources said.
A number of key OPEC members including top exporter Saudi Arabia support extending their supply-cut agreement into the second half of 2017 if all producers, including non-OPEC, also agree, OPEC sources have claimed.
Under the deal agreed last year, OPEC is curbing its output by about 1.2 million barrels per day from January for six months in an attempt to eradicate a supply glut.
Russia and 10 other non-OPEC producers agreed to cut half as much.
The accord has lifted oil prices, which are near $55 a barrel.
However, still-large inventories and higher output from some producers such as the United States – which is not participating in the supply accord – have limited the rally.
