OPEC nations, Russia look to finalize deal for oil production cuts

Dec. 6 (UPI) --

OPEC members met in Austria Friday for another day of negotiations over the size and shape of proposed cuts in oil production in response to worsening market conditions.

The oil minsters held a meeting late into the night Thursday at OPEC headquarters in Vienna, but reached no agreement. Tensions were evident over the size of the proposed cuts and how the oil-producing nations would shoulder the burden.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said, however, a consensus on production cuts had been reached by the 14 OPEC members, and that Friday's meetings would concentrate on implementing that agreement with non-OPEC producers, also known as OPEC Plus, which includes Russia.

The possible outlines of proposed cuts were revealed earlier when the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee, part of the OPEC Plus group, recommended that 500,000 barrels per day be cut during the first quarter of 2020.

OPEC Plus, encompassing a total of 24 oil-producing countries, has been cutting its combined production steadily since early 2017 in response to bulging global oil supplies caused both by falling demand and U.S. shale oil production.