Opec close to extending output cut

VIENNA: Opec and non-member oil producers moved closer on Wednesday to clinching a deal on extending output cuts by nine months to clear a global stocks overhang and prop up the price of crude. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meets in Vienna on Thursday to consider whether to prolong the accord reached in December in which Opec and 11 non-members agreed to cut oil output by about 1.8 million barrels per day in the first half of 2017. The market sees an extension by nine months as the base-case scenario since Saudi Arabia and top non-member Russia said this month they favoured such a move. Kuwait signalled on Wednesday Opec could discuss deepening the cuts, in what would come as a positive surprise for market bulls, but hopes quickly faded after a key committee recommended keeping the curbs unchanged. — Reuters