OPEC reaches 'historical' output cut in Algiers meeting

Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Sada (2nd L), Qatar's energy and industry minister and the OPEC's current president, Organization of Petroleum Producing Countries (OPEC) Secretary General Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo (2nd R) and Algerian Energy Minister Noureddine Bouterfa (1st R) attend the informal meeting of OPEC's ministers in Algiers, Algeria, Sept. 28, 2016. An informal meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Producing Countries (OPEC) members kicked off here on Wednesday in a hope to reach consensus in stabilizing the sinking oil market. (Xinhua)

ALGIERS, Sept. 28 -- The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Wednesday reached a "historical" agreement to ceil oil output from 33.24 million barrels a day to 32.5 or 33 million barrels a day.

President of OPEC Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada told a press conference after a six-hour extraordinary meeting that the cartel's members reached the agreement to cap the oil output.

The OPEC official hailed the efforts made by Algeria, "which offered such an opportunity to gather us and decide on a crucial issue related to oil market."

Al-Sada noted that the participants agreed to set up a committee to consider the output share of each member nation, and then file a report to the next OPEC meeting due in Vienna in November.

He further indicated that the committee is also meant to coordinate a collective agreement between the cartel's members in a bid to accelerate the process of rebalancing the oil market, saying both OPEC and non-OPEC producers (in reference to Russia) have to share the burden of adjusting the output.

When asked whether the Algiers meeting outcomes would push oil prices higher, he noted that market is the only factor that controls the prices.

Earlier on Wednesday, reports suggested that Algeria has proposed the members of OPEC to cut oil outputs by 796,000 barrels a day.

The North African nation proposed Saudi Arabia, one of major oil producers, to cap its supply to around 10.3 million barrels a day. It also proposed Iran to limit its supply to 3.7 million barrels a day.

Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal on Tuesday met with Saudi Deputy Oil Minister Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz bin Salman Al-Saud and Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh.

Sellal attempted to approach divergent views between Iran and Saudi Arabia to facilitate the process of the informal OPEC meeting, which is seen as an opportunity to reach an agreement to either freeze or reduce outputs.

Algeria made considerable diplomatic efforts in the last few months to persuade OPEC and non-OPEC producers to gather "informally" in Algiers to revive the slumping oil market.

Algerian Energy Minister Noureddine Bouterfa said earlier this week that oil price at 50 to 60 U.S. dollars per barrel would be favorable for both consumers and producers, as it would help maintain investments and therefore assure the availability of this key energy product in the long term.