OPEC sec gen says 'too early' to say if supply deal should be extended

LONDON: While confidence has returned to the oil market due to agreed output curbs, it is too early to say whether the landmark OPEC/non-OPEC supply deal should be extended, the group's secretary general said on Tuesday.

"I think it would be very premature for the fact that the market is so dynamic it is becoming increasing challenging to forecast," Mohammed Barkindo told reporters in London when asked about the possibility of a deeper cut when OPEC meets on May 25.

"It is too early for us to begin second guessing what the chairman (Kuwait's minister of oil) will eventually submit in his report to this conference," he said.

Barkindo also said he expected non-OPEC countries to raise their compliance.