VIENNA (Reuters) – OPEC agreed on Thursday to cut oil output by an extra 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter of 2020 to support prices that have been hit by the coronavirus outbreak, but made its action conditional on Russia and others joining in.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on a flag at the oil producer group’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, December 7, 2018. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger
The oil demand outlook has been pummelled by governments’ steps to halt the spread of the virus, prompting OPEC to consider its deepest cut since the 2008 financial crisis.
Demand growth forecasts in 2020 have been slashed as factories have been disrupted, people have been deterred from travelling and other business activity has slowed.
Saudi Arabia has been pushing OPEC and its allies, including Russia, for a big cut up to 1.5 million bpd for the second quarter of 2020 while extending existing cuts of 2.1 million bpd, which expire this month, to the end of 2020.
But Riyadh, the biggest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, and other OPEC members have struggled to per