OPEC 'confident' countries to meet oil output cuts

AP

Business, Economy

Crude oil sold for over $100 a barrel in summer of 2014, before bottoming out below $30 a barrel in Jan 2016.

Nearly dozen other countries pledged an additional 558,000-barrel cut in oil output.

Abu Dhabi: The head of OPEC says he remains "confident" that the cartel and outside members will stick to an agreement to cut production to help boost oil prices.

OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo of Nigeria says that the "level of commitment from both sides ... is unparalleled."

He added that there's been "a high level of compliance."

He made the comments on Thursday during the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi.

Crude oil sold for over $100 a barrel in the summer of 2014, before bottoming out below $30 a barrel in January 2016.

OPEC agreed in late November to cut its production by 1.2 million barrels a day, the first reduction agreed to by the cartel since 2008. Nearly a dozen other countries pledged an additional 558,000-barrel cut.

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