Russia said last Friday it needed more time to follow up on OPEC's plans for further production cuts, saying US crude oil production growth would slow and global demand remained stable.

Russia's energy minister Novak spoke as OPEC urged Moscow to decide whether to participate in further production cuts in response to the new coronavirus epidemic that hit the global economy. The joint OPEC+ Technical Committee, composed of OPEC and its allies, put forward a temporary proposal Thursday to reduce production by another 600,000 barrels/ day, three sources said. Novak said Moscow needed more time to assess the situation, but said he was not too worried about demand and saw slower supply growth, suggesting that OPEC and its allies should not rush to make a decision on further production cuts.

Due to the outbreak of 2019-nCoV and other negative factors, global oil demand is likely to drop by 150,000-200,000 barrels/ day this year, which is lower than other forecasts. British Petroleum said the global economic slowdown was expected to reduce oil demand growth by 300,000 barrels/ day to 500,000 barrels/ day in 2020, equivalent to 0.5% of total demand. Growth in the United States is slowing. Last year's output was 1.3 million barrels/ day, and this year is expected to be less than 1 million barrels/ day. US oil production growth is slowing as prices fall. OPEC+ oil producing countries are scheduled to hold a meeting in Vienna from March 5 to 6. However, according to the impact of 2019-nCoV on crude oil prices, this date may be advanced.

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