Algeria indicates Opec could lower production further in November deal
Opec could agree to cut oil production by a further one per cent at its late November meeting in Vienna, Algeria's energy minister has said.
An additional curb could shave a further one per cent off the amount provisionally agreed in Algiers last month, minister Nouredine Bouterfa has said.
The organisation has indicated output will be reduced by around 700,000 barrels per day, which would limit production to between 32.5m and 33m barrels.
The deal is scheduled to be finalised in November.
Read more: Everything you need to know about Opec's output cut agreement
"We will evaluate the market in Vienna by the end of November and if 700,000 barrels are not enough, we will go up. Now that Opec is unified and speaks in one voice everything is much easier and if we need to cut by one per cent, we will cut by one per cent," Bouterfa said in an interview with local Ennahar TV that will be broadcast today, Reuters reported.
Bouterfa also said Opec and non-Opec members are planning to hold an informal meeting in Istanbul in mid-October to discuss how to implement to Algiers deal, though he gave no further details about who would attend.
Oil prices have been buoyed by indications of an agreement and five consecutive weeks of falls in US crude stockpiles.
Read more: Should central banks prepare for higher inflation after Opec's output cut?
Brent crude futures were trading at $51.86 per barrel this morning, while futures for US sweet crude were down around five cents to $49.78 a barrel.
Both prices hit their highest levels in around for months yesterday on news that US oil stock had fallen by three million barrels, despite widespread projections of an increase.
This morning, Goldman Sachs' head of commodities research warned crude prices were unlikely to rise above $55 in the short term, as the "oversupplied" market will curtail any hikes.