Oil overhang points to need for extended OPEC output cuts

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC producers in December reached their first deal since 2001 to curtail oil output jointly, by around 1.8 million barrels per day. In the months leading up to the deal and after it was struck, OPEC ministers said tackling an overhang in crude and oil product inventories that has depressed oil prices for over two years was one of their main objectives. This contrasts with price hawk Iran, whose oil minister Bijan Zanganeh said OPEC s