Opec+ set to extend output cuts into 2020 as demand falters

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said the deal would most likely be extended by nine months and no deeper reductions were needed.

VIENNA: The Opec+ alliance is poised to extend production cuts into 2020 as the world’s leading oil exporters fret about a weakening outlook for global demand growth and the relentless rise in output from America’s shale fields.

Oil rose the most in a week after Iran became the latest Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) member to back an extension of as long as nine months. The leaders of Russia and Saudi Arabia, the dominant members in the alliance, settled on the idea of extending the cuts into next year during the G20 meeting in Japan.Asked whether he supported the plan as he arrived for Opec’s meeting yesterday, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said, “I don’t have any issue.”