By: Amr Adel

Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: Oil producing countries have shown stronger compliance in March to the agreement signed to trim oil output, secretary general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Mohammad Barkindo said Wednesday.

Speaking at the 3rd GCC Petroleum Media Forum in Abu Dhabi, the UAE, the OPEC official noted that compliance by OPEC members and non-members was significantly high in the first three months of the deal and the year.

OPEC members had agreed in November to reduce their oil output by around 1.2 million barrels of oil per day for a six-month period starting 1 January 2017.

This agreement was the first of its kind since 2008. Russia led non-OPEC members in reducing production as well by around 558,000 barrels per day. Barkindo noted that prices were improving and that this was due to the measures taken by OPEC and non-OPEC producers.

Kuwait’s oil minister Essam Al Marzouq revealed previously that OPEC compliance to the deal reached 106% in February as some countries reduced their production by more than required, while overall compliance to the agreement reached 94%.

OPEC is scheduled to review its policy for the second half of 2017 on 25 May.

Barkindo declined to comment on whether or not the agreement will be extended for an additional six months.

Translated by: Nada Adel Sobhi