"OPEC+, 5월부터 두달간 하루 1천만 배럴 원유 감산"
The COVID-19 pandemic has hammered oil prices recently as demand has crashed amid lockdowns and travel restrictions.
And to try to counter the plummeting prices, OPEC, Russia and several other major oil producers have agreed to drastically slash production from next month.
Our Jang Tae-hyun reports.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and several other major oil producers including Russia agreed to a historic production cut of 10 million barrels a day for two months from May.
With the decision,... the group will cut daily production by 10 million barrels in May and June, 8 million barrels from July through to the end of the year,... and 6 million barrels from January 2021 to April 2022.
The drastic move comes as the coronavirus pandemic saps demand for crude oil,... with almost the entire world not flying or driving.
The decision by the group, known as OPEC-plus, amounts to a roughly 10-percent drop in global oil production.
All members will reduce their output by 23 percent, with Saudi Arabia and Russia each cutting production by 2-point-five million barrels per day and Iraq cutting production by over 1 million barrels.
Countries that aren't members of OPEC-plus, such as the U.S, Norway and Canada, were also invited, but it is not clear whether they participated in the video conference.
Despite the record cut,... oil prices moved lower on Thursday as investors worried the cut would still not be enough to match the drop in demand.
West Texas Intermediate dropped around 9-point-3-percent on Thursday to settle at 22 U.S. dollars, 76 cents per barrel.
And Brent Crude fell 4-point-1-percent to settle at 31 dollars 48 cents per barrel.
OPEC-plus members will have an online meeting on June 10 to evaluate the effect of the production cut.
Jang Tae-hyun, Arirang News