Russia's Novak: Time would be needed to exit the OPEC/non-OPEC deal smoothly

Below are the key highlights from Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak's recent interview with Reuters.

Supply and demand balance on oil market seen reached sometime during 2018.

Consensus among oil ministers is that eventual exit from the deal should not lead to surplus.

Time would be needed to exit the (OPEC/non-OPEC) deal smoothly.

Detailed global oil cut deal talks seen as soon as market balance starts to emerge.

There is common understanding among ministers how the exit should be handled, declines to elaborate.

There is option of extending global oil output cuts deal beyond 2018 in case markets need to be further balanced.

2018 is the year when oil markets expected to balance.

Asked on planned Saudi Aramco IPO in 2018, says oil cut deal and Aramco's sale are not directly linked.

Novak praises relation between governments of Russia and Saudi Arabia as well as Russian and Saudi companies.

In comments on Kazakhstan's possible exceeding its quota, says we assume that all should stick to their commitments.

Global oil demand growth to slow down to 1.3 - 1.5 mln bpd in 2018 from 1.8 mln bpd in 2017.

He does not change forecast for brent oil prices at $50-$60 per bbl in 2018.