DUBAI (Reuters) - A meeting of global oil producers in Vienna this week to discuss extending a system of output cuts will not be easy, United Arab Emirates energy minister Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazroui said on Tuesday.
However, Mazroui added that he was personally optimistic that producers would reach an agreement that served the market. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will meet in Vienna on Thursday.
"It will not be an easy meeting and we always look at various scenarios, but I am personally optimistic," Mazroui told reporters at an industry event in Dubai.
He said several options for extending the output cuts would be discussed, including a proposal to extend them to the end of 2018. They are currently due to expire in March. He did not describe the other options.
Asked whether Russia was willing to agree on Thursday on an extension of output cuts, Mazroui said: "I cannot comment on any country before I meet with them."
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He also said the oil market was in a much better position than it was last year, which was a result of producers complying with the cuts.
"We are hoping for another year of correction and recovery. The OPEC countries are all committed to fix the issue with the five years' overstorage," he said, referring to excess global inventories of oil.
(Reporting by Maha El Dahan and Tom Arnold; Writing by Andrew Torchia)
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