OPEC, allies to meet on June 9-10 for oil market debate

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies will meet next week to discuss the current situation of the global oil market and the low price environment.

The 179th meeting of the OPEC conference will be held on June 9 via videoconference, OPEC announced on its website.

The 11th OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial meeting will take place a day later on June 10, according to the announcement.

During the two-day conferences, OPEC and non-OPEC oil-producing countries' representatives are expected to discuss whether to extend or deepen the group's oil production cut they had agreed in April.

The 23-member group, known as OPEC+, had agreed on April 12 to curb their total oil output level by a total of 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) from May 1 through June 30 to mitigate the adverse impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on weak global oil demand.

In that meeting, they also agreed to ease the cuts to 7.7 million bpd from July 1 to Dec. 31 this year, which would then be followed by a 5.8 million bpd adjustment for a period of 16 months, from Jan.1, 2021 to April 30, 2022.

These levels may change, however, if OPEC+ members find the output cuts enough to support crude prices.

Due to weak global oil demand and the rising glut of supply, oil prices plummeted in April to their lowest levels since 1999.

International benchmark Brent crude fell below $16 per barrel in April but rose 150% since then to reach almost $40 a barrel on Tuesday as quarantine measures against COVID-19 soften in parts of Asia and Europe.