Saudi Arabia and Russia are pushing for an extension to the existing Opec-orchestrated oil output cut deal, signed by 21 nations in an effort to reduce global crude stockpiles and prop up oil prices.

Both nations want the agreement to be extended until June 2018, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

As things stand, the countries that have signed up for the agreement are only obliged to maintain the cuts until March 2018.

The existing agreement is designed to reduce production by Opec nations by 1.2 million barrels a day.

Over recent months, there has been limited compliance and the group has failed to hit its target.

July saw a second month of missed targets for Opec nations, with only 86 per cent of the planned cuts actually taking place, according to Bloomberg calculations using International Energy Agency data. In June, the figure was 84 per cent.

Among non-Opec countries that had signed up for cuts, the figures were even worse. In July, only 73 per cent of the planned cut was implemented. In June, the figure was 81 per cent.

Countries that missed their targets included Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Algeria, Ecuador, Qatar, the UAE and Gabon.

Saudi Arabia’s push to extend the production cut deal comes nine months after the Opec-orchestrated cuts were first agreed on in November 2016.