Top oil producers struggled to finalise production cuts during a virtual summit held by G20 energy ministers on Friday, despite US President Donald Trump’s mediation efforts to end a standoff with Mexico.
The final G20 communique appeared to gloss over simmering divisions over energy policy, making no mention of output cuts and pledging simply to ensure oil “market stability” amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Mexico was the lone holdout in a record OPEC-led agreement reached a day earlier that would see output slashed by 10 million barrels per day in May and June followed by a gradual reduction in cuts until April 2022.
The standoff had cast doubt on efforts to bolster oil prices, pushed to near two-decade lows by the demand-sapping pandemic and a Saudi-Russia price war that rattled global markets.
The subsequent G20 meeting — hosted by Riyadh — was expected to seal the deal more widely with non-OPEC countries in the group including Mexico, the United States and Canada.
