OPEC Agrees On Production Cuts - WSJ
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Major oil producing nations moved closer to reducing global petroleum production and agreed to an initial, immediate cut of 305,000 barrels a day and continuing talks on a much larger reduction, the Wall Street Journal reported in its March 12 issue, citing people close to OPEC.
Oil ministers from OPEC producers Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Iran and Mexico held a surprise meeting in Amsterdam Thursday in hopes of an agreement to cut production by two million barrels a day, or about 2.6 percent of world output, the newspaper said.
Adrian Lajous, the head of Mexico state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, said he was confident an agreement would be reached Friday when the group was scheduled to reconvene.
However, a wire service report, citing OPEC sources, said Saudi Arabia had agreed in principle to cut by at least 500,000 barrels a day for the larger reduction, the newspaper said.
A final agreement will be paved at the OPEC meeting in Vienna on March 23.
The initial pact to cut 305,000 barrels a day is meaningful because it would appear to resolve a battle between Saudi Arabia and Iran over last year's unsuccessful cutback agreement, the newspaper said.
Under the new plan, the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain, will each cut their own output to account for the disputed Iranian production.
As a result, Iran has agreed to cut an additional 200,000 barrels daily for the larger accord, the newspaper said, citing a wire service report.
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