The non-OPEC producers that have signed up to the supply-cut deal forged by OPEC to boost oil prices and rebalance the market have been improving on their initially low compliance with the production cuts, and are now adhering to at least 60 percent of their promises.
According to OPEC delegates briefed by Reuters, compliance by the 11 non-OPEC nations - led by Russia - is now somewhere between 60 percent and 66 percent, higher than earlier projections for a 40-percent compliance rate.
The 11 non-OPEC signatories to the deal have pledged to cut 558,000 bpd of their combined production between January and June, joining OPEC's plans to shave off 1.2 million bpd of the cartel's total production in the first half of 2017. Out of the 558,000-bpd non-OPEC cut, Russia has pledged to curtail output by 300,000 bpd, but would do so gradually over the first six months of the year. So far, Russia has said that it reduced output by 117,000 bpd in January.
A meeting of the officials from the monitoring committee on the cuts - which includes OPEC's Kuwait, Venezuela and Algeria and non-OPEC Russia and Oman - was held on Wednesday and reviewed compliance rates.
"This meeting shows the seriousness of OPEC and non-OPEC in implementing the agreed cut," one OPEC delegate told Reuters. Related: Unsatisfied With Oil Prices, Iraq Calls For New OPEC Meeting
The officials of the monitoring committee also reviewed OPEC's compliance, which international agencies, oil analysts and OPEC itself have pegged at exceeding 90 percent in January.
Earlier this month, Kuwait's Oil Minister Oil Minister Essam al-Marzouq said that non-OPEC nations were complying at a 50-percent rate and called for higher compliance.
According to Bloomberg estimates -- based on IEA and OPEC figures -- non-OPEC compliance in January was 48 percent, with output reduced by 270,000 bpd. Among the 11 non-OPEC nations, only Oman - a Saudi Gulf Arab ally and a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - brought its production within the level it had promised.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Tsvetana is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews. More