China News Agency, Moscow, April 3 (Reporter Wang Xiujun) Russian President Vladimir Putin said on the 3rd that he is preparing to balance the oil market with the US through coordinated actions.
Putin said in a video conference on the global energy market situation that day, the epidemic of the new coronavirus has affected the world economy, leading to a decline in demand from major energy-consuming countries. In addition, Saudi Arabia expanded oil production and provided oil discounts. This is the reason for the decline in oil prices. The fall in oil prices has had a negative impact on the global oil industry.
Putin said that he had a recent conversation with the President of the United States. Both parties expressed concern about the current oil market situation and were interested in taking joint actions to ensure the long-term stability of the oil market. Russia is not a saboteur of the agreement between OPEC and OPEC. The Russian side is ready to reach an agreement with its partners.
Russian Energy Minister Novak emphasized that the meeting was very important. We see that if no action is taken, there will be a backlog in the world oil market next month, which will lead to serious instability. As US shale oil production has grown, many partners have lost their market share. So they increased their output and tried to restore market share.
Novak said that it should join all large oil-producing countries to take emergency measures to balance the oil market. In the future, it is necessary to reach an agreement on reducing production, and to stabilize the situation as soon as possible to prevent the collapse of the oil market.
On March 6, OPEC met with non-OPEC oil-producing countries headed by Russia to discuss crude oil production policies after the end of March this year. According to the new production cut plan, Russia needs to reduce production by 1.5 million barrels per day until the end of 2020. The parties ultimately failed to reach an agreement. After the meeting, Saudi Arabia announced a substantial reduction in crude oil prices and increased daily output. Affected by this, international crude oil prices have fallen sharply in the past month.
On March 30, the President of Russia and the United States called on the phone and stated that the current oil price market is not in the interest of both countries. According to the news of the Azerbaijan Ministry of Energy ’s press office on the 3rd, OPEC will hold a video conference with non-OPEC countries on the 6th to discuss the issue of stabilizing oil prices. (Finish)