May 25, 2017

Report: OPEC will extend oil cuts into 2018

Alayna Treene

Daniel Chan / AP

OPEC agreed Thursday to extend its deal to cut oil output by nine months, an OPEC delegate told Reuters, as the organization works to curb excess supply of crude oil that has kept prices low for three years.

Khalid Al-Falih, Saudi Arabia's energy and oil minister, told CNBC before entering the closed-door meeting of 14 countries in Vienna: "Nine months with the same level of production that our member countries have been producing at is a very safe and almost certain option to do the trick."

Why this isn't surprising: Last week, Saudi Arabia and Russia teamed up and announced they backed an extension in cuts to production. Their support for a deal encouraged other countries to rally behind them, and yesterday the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee announced that OPEC was close to a deal.

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Coronavirus dashboard

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  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 3 a.m. ET: 665,164 — Total deaths: 30,852 — Total recoveries: 140,225.
  2. U.S.: Leads the world in cases. Total confirmed cases as of 3 a.m. ET: 124,665 — Total deaths: 2,191 — Total recoveries: 1,095.
  3. Federal government latest: President Trump announces new travel advisories for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, but rules out quarantine enforcement. Per the CDC, residents of those states must now "refrain from non-essential domestic travel for 14 days," with the exception of critical infrastructure industry workers.
  4. State updates: Alaska is latest state to issue a stay-at-home order — New York is trying to nearly triple its hospital capacity in less than a month and has moved its presidential primary to June 23. Some Midwestern swing voters who backed Trump's handling of the virus less than two weeks ago are balking at his call for the U.S. to be "opened up" by Easter.
  5. World updates: In Spain, over 1,400 people were confirmed dead between Thursday to Saturday.
  6. 🚀 Space updates: OneWeb filed for bankruptcy amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
  7. Hollywood: Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have returned to U.S. after being treated for coronavirus.
  8. What should I do? Answers about the virus from Axios experts — What to know about social distancing — Q&A: Minimizing your coronavirus risk
  9. Other resources: CDC on how to avoid the virus, what to do if you get it.

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