Zanganeh Says OPEC+ Needs Further Production Cuts

OPEC and its allies need to cut crude output by 500,000 barrels per day to clear the oil market's oversupply from the coronavirus outbreak, Iran’s Oil Minister said upon his arrival in Vienna on Wednesday.
Bijan Namdar Zanganeh is attending a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna on Wednesday, the Oil Ministry news portal reported.
He suggested that negotiations ahead will be guided more by politics than market fundamentals.
"Expertise doesn't work here. Politics does," he said ahead of OPEC talks.
"I believe it is clear that due to the oversupply in this situation, especially as COVID-19 is spreading fast, it is essential that OPEC and non-OPEC take necessary measures."
OPEC, Russia and nine other allies are scheduled to meet Thursday and Friday to discuss proposals for deeper output cuts.
The alliance's 1.7 million bpd production cut accord expires at the end of the month, and an advisory committee has recommended increasing that by 600,000 bpd for at least the second quarter.
Saudi Arabia has urged deeper cuts of up to 1 million bpd, sources have said.
"We should discuss" all options, Zanganeh said. "I do not know about the decision but there is no denying that supply and demand are not balanced."
He added that the coronavirus had not impacted Iran's oil industry operations.
Iran has been one of the hardest hit countries outside of China by the infection, with more than 2,800 reported cases and 92 deaths up until Wednesday.