The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) semi-annual meeting will kick off on Thursday in Austrian capital Vienna where OPEC and its allies are expected to move towards balancing the global oil market.
This year, OPEC's much-anticipated ministerial meeting has been pushed to an afternoon session instead of the usual starting time seen over previous years at around noon.
Thursday's rally will begin with the 17th meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Conference (JMMC) at 1100 local time in Vienna (1000 GMT) closed to media and analysts. Formed in December 2016, the JMMC has been responsible for monitoring both OPEC and non-OPEC's oil production and adherence to output quotas.
Later on Thursday, energy and oil ministers from the 14-member OPEC will meet at 1500 local time at OPEC's headquarters in Vienna (1400 GMT). After the opening remarks, the ministers will convene behind closed doors to discuss the glut of supply in the global oil market and low demand around the world. After the discussions, some ministers will make statements and answer journalists' questions.
On Friday, the 10-member non-OPEC oil producing countries will begin their ministerial meeting at 1100 local time in Vienna (1000 GMT). After concluding their closed session, both OPEC and non-OPEC ministers will hold a joint news conference.
Saudi Arabia-led OPEC is considered to be on the fence about extending the production cut agreement and making deeper output cuts, while Russia-led non-OPEC is contemplating whether to support the decision or not.
OPEC members agreed in December 2018 to collectively lower the group's total oil output by 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) with Saudi Arabia carrying most of the burden by curbing its production by 500,000 bpd.
While non-OPEC countries supported the decision by cutting their output by 400,000 bpd, Russia said it would decrease its production by 228,000 bpd.
In June 2019, the agreement was extended until the end of March 2020.
By Ovunc Kutlu in Vienna
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr