Opec, Opec+ to hold ministerial meetings on 6 June

Opec and the wider Opec+ group will both hold their ministerial meetings tomorrow, according to two Opec+ sources, putting to an end days of speculation as to whether these meetings would even go ahead this month.

Opec ministers will gather via video conference at 12:00 GMT, and Opec+ will holding its meeting immediately after that at 14:00 GMT.

The meetings come against a backdrop of intense discussions and bargaining behind the scenes over poor compliance by some of the Opec+ group's members, which had thrown into doubt the timing.

The Opec ministers' conference was originally scheduled for 9 June, followed by the Opec+ meeting on 10 June. But Opec presidency holder Algeria proposed last weekend to bring the meetings forward to 4 June.

This proposal was under serious consideration but was ultimately not agreed in time.

The video conferences will be the first time Opec and its non-Opec partners have met since they struck their latest output restraint agreement in early April. The deal calls for the removal of 9.7mn b/d of crude from the market in May and June, and then a collective cut of 7.7mn b/d in the second half of the year, largely from an October 2018 baseline.

Opec+ de facto leaders Russia and Saudi Arabia back an extension of current output quotas for one month until the end of July, according to an Opec delegate.

The Opec+ Joint Technical Committee (JTC), which studies market conditions on behalf of the Opec+ alliance, typically meets before the ministerial assemblies but this time will meet at a later date, on 17 June.

By Nader Itayim