Ecuador oil minister says OPEC likely to extend cuts by 9 months

VIENNA: Ecuador Oil Minister Jos? Icaza Romero said on Tuesday that OPEC and other oil-producing countries would discuss a six- or nine-month extension to output cuts this week and probably choose the latter.

"Six and nine months are both proposals on the table ... we will support the majority, probably the nine months," Icaza Romero told reporters.

Asked whether deeper cuts would be discussed, he said: "Not at this point, I don't think so."

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meets in Vienna on Thursday to consider whether to prolong the deal reached in December in which OPEC and 11 non-members, including Russia, agreed to cut output by about 1.8 million barrels per day in the first half of 2017.