Oil producers to push reset button? Russia hints at effort to rein in crude

A return to the oil production levels that were in place in October 2016, the baseline for the current deal to cut output, is one of the options for easing curbs, Russia's energy minister said on Saturday.

Sources said this week that Saudi Arabia and Russia were discussing raising OPEC and non-OPEC oil production to ease 17 months of strict supply curbs amid concerns that a price rally has gone too far.

"When we extended the agreement until the end of 2018, we spoke about such possibilities (of returning to the October 2016 level)," Novak told reporters.

"But a decision will be made in June," he added, referring to meetings of OPEC and non-OPEC countries in Vienna on June 22-23.

The existing deal came into force on 1 January 2017 and envisaged global oil producers reducing their combined output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) to cut bloated stockpiles and prop up oil prices.

Russia's oil output reached a 30-year high of 11.247 million bpd in October 2016 and it pledged to cut it by 300,000 bpd to 10.947 mln.