Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said, speaking to news agency TASS that the production deal that was agreed by OPEC members and participating 11 non-OPEC members last November and received an extension until March 2018 in May this year with an aim to reduce global oil supplies by 1.76 million barrels per day, might receive yet another extension next year. Novak said he had discussed another extension with his Saudi counterpart, Khalid al-Falih, at a meeting in Saint Petersburg earlier this year, noting that all options are on the table and no decisions have been made yet. Since the OPEC deal in last November, Brent has gained about 6 percent and WTI gained about 13 percent. However, the price recovery has been unstable so far and the price has actually fallen since the deal was extended in May. WTI is currently trading at $48.8 and Brent at $4.8 per barrel premium.

Despite an earnest effort by OPEC and participating N-OPEC countries, the levels of inventories have remained millions of barrels above their 5-year average, leaving the countries little choice but to continue the agreement. The market is taking a much longer time to balance as increased production from deal exempted countries like Libya and Nigeria have led to production increase within OPEC. In May, production rose by 366,000 barrels per day; in June production rose by 396,000 barrels per day and 176,000 barrels per day in July. A separate report from International Energy Agency (IEA) showed that compliance has also declined to 75 percent within OPEC in July and for Non-OPEC countries, it was at 67 percent.