(To make clear minister was referring to the Iranian year corrects third paragraph to read "..the end of the Iranian year in March 2018..." instead of "...the end of 2017...")
LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC members' compliance with the agreement to reduce output has increased in recent months, Iran's oil minister said on Monday, noting that unofficial talks were underway among the oil producing countries to extend the cuts next year.
"I think the oil market is balanced. OPEC members' compliance with output cuts has not fallen in the last six months; it has increased," Bijan Zanganeh was quoted as saying by the Iranian oil ministry's news agency SHANA.
Zanganeh said the OPEC agreement of output cuts would continue until the end of the Iranian year in March 2018 and that "there are talks underway to extend it but they are not official yet."
(Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; Editing by Greg Mahlich)