OPEC+ Agrees to Cut 9.7 Million Barrels‥Trump Reacts Positively

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Baek Jong-min] OPEC+ (the coalition of OPEC and 10 major oil-producing countries) held an emergency video conference on the 12th and agreed to cut oil production by 9.7 million barrels per day for two months from May 1 to the end of June. U.S. President Donald Trump also declared that the agreement had been reached.

According to Bloomberg News, this agreement overcame the risk of collapse over the weekend through President Trump's active involvement and diplomatic efforts by each country.

According to the news agency, the agreed production cut on that day was slightly reduced from the provisional agreement of 10 million barrels announced on the 9th. This appears to be a concession by OPEC+ on the 12th to Mexico's demand, which rejected the production cut quota imposed on its country. Iran's oil minister also said after the meeting, "OPEC+ approved Mexico's request to cut 100,000 barrels per day."

Ed Morse, Citigroup's commodity investment strategist, described the situation as "an unprecedented situation requiring unprecedented measures." He explained, "In this historic oil production cut, the United States played a key role between Saudi Arabia and Russia."

The production cut agreed upon that day is the largest among the cuts and increases previously decided by OPEC+. President Trump emphasized, "OPEC+ has reached a major oil agreement that saved tens of thousands of oil-related jobs in the United States. I want to thank Saudi King Salman and Russian President Putin."

However, there are evaluations that this cut is insufficient to resolve the oil supply glut, as the decline in oil demand due to COVID-19 is estimated at 30 million barrels per day.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.