US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would engage in an international oil dispute at the right time, and that this war would be devastating for Russia and bad for Saudi Arabia, while the US Energy Department said it would buy tens of millions of barrels of oil to support American producers.

Trump added that the lower gasoline prices are good for American consumers, even if they harm the oil sector.

Saudi Arabia and Russia are locked in a battle over market shares after their agreement to curb three-year production collapsed this month.

The two countries are pumping oil at full capacity at a time of sharp decline in global demand due to the spread of the Corona virus, which pushed prices down this week to their lowest levels in nearly 20 years.

"We are trying to find some kind of compromise," Trump told reporters at the White House, explaining that he had spoken to several people about this conflict.

He added that "it is very destructive for Russia, as their entire economy depends on that, and oil prices have become the lowest in decades ... I may say it is very bad for Saudi Arabia, but they are fighting a battle, a battle over prices, a battle over production ... I will intervene at the appropriate time."

The Russian economy is more diversified than its Saudi counterpart and less dependent on oil. Low oil prices are hurting US crude producers, who are bearing greater costs than their counterparts in Saudi Arabia and Russia, and are likely to embark on mergers.

The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported that the Trump administration was considering diplomatic pressure to get Saudi Arabia to cut production and brandish sanctions on Russia to force it to cut supplies as well.

Emergency stock
But some US lawmakers say that Russia and Saudi Arabia deliberately target the US shale oil industry after Trump embarked on a policy of "hegemony over the energy sector" by exporting oil and gas to Europe and Asia.

Thanks to the shale boom, the United States has become the world's largest oil producer, bypassing Saudi Arabia and Russia.

These statements come at a time when the US Department of Energy said Thursday that it will buy up to 30 million barrels of crude oil for strategic oil reserves by the end of next June, as a first step toward enforcing Trump's guidance to fill in emergency stocks to assist domestic crude producers.

The available capacity for reserves in natural ground cavities on the Texas and Louisiana coasts is 77 million barrels.

The ministry added that the first purchases will focus on buying from small and medium-sized producers.

For his part, Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin said on "Fox Business" that he would urge Trump to take advantage of the drop in oil prices and ask Congress for between 10 and 20 billion dollars to fill strategic oil reserves in the long run.

"We must fill the reserve over the next ten years," Mnuchin added.