Iraq's Kurdistan region committed to OPEC+deal to reduce output

Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region said on Sunday it is committed to its share of an OPEC+deal to reduce oil output to support prices and curb oversupply, Iraq's state news agency reported.

The announcement followed a meeting between Kurdish and Iraqi oil ministry officials in Baghdad where the Kurdistan government agreed to provide the ministry with monthly reports on oil production.

Read more: Iraq’s Kurdistan region to defer Nov-Feb oil payments, says Genel Energy

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other oil producers agreed on April 12 to cut production by a record 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) from May.

Saudi Arabia and Russia signaled on Sunday they may be open to further output cuts after the latest OPEC+ deal to curb global oil supplies failed to stem crude’s downward spiral.

The two nations will “continue to closely monitor the oil market and are prepared to take further measures jointly with OPEC+ and other producers if these are deemed necessary,” Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and his Saudi counterpart Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said in a joint statement published after a phone call.

Oil has plunged about 17 percent in New York since the group on Sunday agreed to trim worldwide production by an unprecedented 9.7 million barrels a day, as lockdowns aimed at containing the coronavirus cause the biggest demand slump in history. Prices hit a fresh 18-year low below $19 a barrel on Friday.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries projected on Thursday that even full implementation of the cuts won’t prevent a surplus in the second quarter, when demand for its crude will fall to the lowest in three decades.

The joint statement on Friday echoes earlier comments by Saudi Arabia’s bin Salman, who has said that his country is ready to cut oil production further if needed when the OPEC+ alliance meets again in June. “Flexibility and pragmatism will enable us to continue do more if we have to,” he said on Sunday.

Read more:

Coronavirus: Bahrain King commends Trump’s efforts in achieving oil market stability

Saudi Arabia to sell 600,000 bpd of oil to US in April

Coronavirus: OPEC says oil market is undergoing ‘historic shock’