Ariana News Agency-\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Russia has agreed with Saudi Arabia to extend by six to nine months a deal with OPEC on reducing oil output, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, as oil prices come under renewed pressure from rising U.S. supplies and a slowing global economy.<\/p>\n Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Sunday that the deal would most likely be extended by nine months and no deeper reductions were needed.<\/p>\n Putin, speaking after talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, told a news conference the deal – which is due to expire on Sunday – would be extended in its current form and with the same volumes.<\/p>\n The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers, an alliance known as OPEC+, meet on July 1-2 to discuss the deal, which involves curbing oil output by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd).<\/p>\n The United States, the world\u2019s largest oil producer ahead of Russia and Saudi Arabia, is not participating in the pact.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will support the extension, both Russia and Saudi Arabia. As far as the length of the extension is concerned, we have yet to decide whether it will be six or nine months. Maybe it will be nine months,\u201d said Putin, who met the crown prince on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Japan.<\/p>\n Falih, arriving in Vienna for the OPEC+ talks, told reporters when asked about Saudi preferences: \u201cI think most likely a nine-month extension.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked about a deeper cut, Falih said: \u201cI don\u2019t think the market needs that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDemand is softening a little bit but I think it\u2019s still healthy,\u201d the Saudi minister said, adding that he expected the market to balance in the next six to nine months.<\/p>\n A nine-month extension would mean the deal runs out in March 2020. Russia\u2019s consent means the OPEC+ group may have a smooth meeting if OPEC\u2019s third-largest producer Iran also endorses the arrangement.<\/p>\n New U.S. sanctions on Iran have reduced its exports to a trickle as Washington seeks to change what it calls a \u201ccorrupt\u201d regime in Tehran. Iran has denounced the sanctions as illegal and says the White House is run by \u201cmentally retarded\u201d people.<\/p>\n Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive of the Russian Direct Investment Fund who helped design the OPEC-Russia deal, said the pact in place since 2017 had lifted Russian budget revenues by more than 7 trillion rubles ($110 billion).<\/p>\n \u201cThe strategic partnership within OPEC+ has led to the stabilization of oil markets and allows both to reduce and increase production depending on the market demand conditions, which contributes to the predictability and growth of investments in the industry,\u201d Dmitriev said.<\/p>\n Benchmark Brent crude has climbed more than 25% since the start of 2019. But prices could stall as a slowing global economy squeezes demand and U.S. oil floods the market, a Reuters poll of analysts found.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Russia has agreed with Saudi Arabia to extend by six to nine months a deal with OPEC on reducing oil output, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_mat_hreflang_tags":[],"addvideo":"","video_duration":"","farsit":"","target":"0","top_stories":"0","top":"1"},"categories":[305,1],"tags":[587,71,83,588],"class_list":["post-3536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia","category-news","tag-opec","tag-russia","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-vladimir-putin"],"acf":{"myctype":"change","target":false,"top_stories":false,"top":true,"farsit":""},"yoast_head":"\n