OPEC, Russia signal oil pact may last beyond 2018

OPEC and Russia reaffirmed that they’ll persevere with oil-production cuts until the end of the year to clear a global glut and signaled their readiness to cooperate beyond that, Bloomberg reports.

Russia is prepared to continue cooperating with OPEC and its de-facto leader Saudi Arabia even after the cuts expire, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in a Bloomberg television interview held jointly with his Saudi counterpart.

Producers should keep limits on output through 2018 as the market may re-balance at the end of the year or in 2019, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said. Neither minister said whether the cuts would continue in 2019.

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