Russia and Saudi Arabia agree Opec+ format should be extended
MOSCOW/DUBAI: Russia and Saudi Arabia have a general consensus that the Opec+ format should be “institutionalised” and extended until 2019 and beyond for oil market monitoring and joint action in case of need, Russia’s energy ministry said in a statement.
Citing Russian Minister Alexander Novak, the ministry added that the two major oil producers planned to sign a mutual agreement which will draw their cooperation in the energy arena to a new level.
Russia, the world’s top crude oil producer, and Saudi Arabia, the driver of Opec policy and the thirdlargest crude producer behind the United States, agreed with Opec and non-opec nations to cut supply by 1.8 million barrels per day since 2017.
A Gulf source familiar with Saudi oil thinking said the meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major producers in Vienna on June 22 “will look into a number of options” to guarantee oil market rebalancing.
“Any action will happen after all the consultation and agreement of the 24 countries,” the source said.
“Saudi Arabia and Russia acknowledge the hard work that has been done over the past year and a half along with members of the declaration of cooperation and plan to continue having that cooperation and institutionalising it to a permanent framework,” the source said.
Inventories have since dwindled the deal, taking global benchmark Brent crude futures to $80 a barrel in May, near a four-year high.