Oil ministers of the "OPEC Plus" alliance began their meeting at the headquarters of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna to discuss production policy.
Reuters quoted sources as saying that members of the alliance, which includes OPEC countries and allies led by Russia, are discussing an agreement that could include new quotas for countries, extending until the end of next year, with further production cuts.
The sources indicated that the new cuts could reach one million barrels per day, as oil prices fall towards the level of $ 70 a barrel amid a glut in supply.
The coalition is currently implementing cuts of 1 million barrels per day, in addition to voluntary cuts announced by several countries in April, amounting to 6.<> million barrels per day.
If the new cuts are passed, the total will rise to 4.66 million barrels per day, equivalent to 4.5 percent of the world's total daily oil demand.
OPEC Plus pumps about 40 percent of global crude production, meaning its decisions could have a significant impact on oil prices.
Al Jazeera correspondent Ayman Al-Zubair said that there is uncertainty about the decisions that may come out of today's meeting, adding that there are a number of possible scenarios regarding production policy, most notably: maintaining the current production capacity given expectations about high Chinese demand, and the positive messages left by the agreement on raising the US debt ceiling, or reducing production by an additional million barrels, but this scenario faced opposition from Russia and some African countries.
The price of a barrel of Brent was $ 76 per barrel, while the price of West Texas Intermediate crude is $ 71, far from the peak recorded in March 2022 at the beginning of the war in Ukraine, which amounted to about $ 140.