UAE says expects higher compliance with OPEC, non-OPEC deal

DUBAI Compliance with a global supply cut deal by OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers has been high in January and that level of commitment is expected to improve over the next months, the United Arab Emirates Energy Minister said on Sunday.

“The first month I see the commitment around OPEC has been there from the various independent sources. The level of commitment is high and we are expecting to see more commitments in the months to come,” Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazroui told reporters.

OPEC has delivered more than 90 percent of pledged oil output curbs in January, according to figures the exporter group uses to monitor its supply seen by Reuters, making a strong start to implementation of its first production cut in eight years.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is cutting its crude output by about 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from Jan. 1 to prop up oil prices and reduce a supply glut. Russia and 10 other non-OPEC countries agreed to cut half as much.

(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell; Writing by Rania El Gamal, Editing by William Maclean)