Delegates from oil-producing countries started arriving Wednesday in Vienna to discuss output cuts in a meeting overshadowed by worries over the new coronavirus. The OPEC extraordinary two-day meeting takes place Thursday and Friday in the capital of Austria, which itself has recorded almost 30 cases of the new coronavirus nationwide. At their last meeting in December, the producers agreed to cut production by 500,000 barrels per day, with Saudi Arabia offering a further 400,000 barrels of “voluntary” cuts. “After the coronavirus situation we have an oversupply in the market, it’s necessary OPEC and non-OPEC do something for the balance in the market,” he told reporters. OPEC’s joint technical committee last month recommended a cut of 600,000 barrels to ward off the effects of the coronavirus slowdown.

Source: Punch March 04, 2020 15:45 UTC