ST. PETERSBURG, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) considers further prolongation of the Declaration of Cooperation, also known an "Oil Deal", the Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak said after the JMMC meeting in St.Petersburg Monday.

Saudi Minister of Energy Khalid Al-Falih said that the deal withdrew over 350 million barrels of oil from the market and thus caused steady and significant progress towards the market rebalancing.

According to Alexander Novak, it can be prolonged after the first quarter of 2018 if necessary.

In the end of 2016, OPEC and non-OPEC countries agreed to remove 1.8 million barrels of oil a day from the market for six months to increase the demand and raise prices.

The agreement was later extended for nine months, till the end of March 2018. Enditem