Sources in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said that OPEC and Russia postponed a meeting scheduled for Monday to April 9, with escalating disagreement between Moscow and Saudi Arabia over who is responsible for the drop in oil prices, while Trump threatened to impose duties on Saudi and Russian oil imports, if it did not take place. To reach an agreement to cut production.

The postponement of the meeting came despite pressure from US President Donald Trump for OPEC and its allies (OPEC Plus) to achieve urgent stability in global oil markets.

Oil prices reached their lowest level in 18 years on March 30 due to declining demand, due to public isolation measures taken by governments to contain the outbreak of the Corona virus, and the failure of OPEC and other producers - led by Russia - to extend a previous deal on production restrictions that ended in Last March 31.

And "OPEC Plus" is working to reach an agreement to reduce oil production equivalent to about 10% of global supply, or ten million barrels per day, which is what members expect to be an unprecedented global effort that includes the United States.

But Washington has not yet committed to joining this effort, and Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Saudi Arabia on Friday for the collapse in prices, which prompted Riyadh to accuse Russia - in return - of being responsible for the price collapse.

The Saudi News Agency quoted the Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz as saying - in a statement yesterday Saturday - "The Russian Energy Minister is the initiator of the exit to the media and declaring that the countries are in the dissolution of their obligations as of April 1, which led to an increase Countries in their production to offset the price drop to make up for the shortfall in revenue. "

"The first reason for the drop in prices is the impact of the Corona virus on demand," Putin said - during a videoconference with government officials and heads of major Russian oil producers.

He added, "The second reason behind the collapse of prices is the withdrawal of our partners from Saudi Arabia from the OPEC Plus deal and the increase in their production, and the information that came out at the same time about the willingness of our partners even to offer a reduction in the price of oil."

The Saudi News Agency quoted Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud as saying that the statement attributed to Putin "is totally and completely disgraceful of health."

"The kingdom's position on shale oil production is known, and it is an important part of energy sources."

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OPEC sources - who requested anonymity - said that the emergency default meeting scheduled for Monday is likely to be postponed to April 9th ​​to allow more time for negotiations.

But the sources later downplayed the importance of the Saudi-Russian dispute, saying that the atmosphere was still positive despite the absence of a draft agreement so far, or agreement on details such as the reference level through which supplies are cut.

Challenges
"The first problem is that we have to reduce the current production level now, not return to the pre-crisis level," one of the OPEC sources said.

"The second issue is that the Americans must play a role," he added.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told Russian media that he understood that there were legal restrictions in the United States on production cuts, but that they should also be flexible.

Other oil-producing countries outside of "OPEC Plus" have indicated their willingness to help. Alberta, Canada - where the world's third largest reserves are located - has expressed openness to joining any possible global deal.

On Saturday, Norway - the largest producer of oil and gas in western Europe - said it would consider reducing its oil production if a broad global agreement was reached.

Waving sanctions
And while the Russian-Saudi dispute continues to cause price collapse, US President Donald Trump has said he will consider imposing tariffs on oil imports, while criticizing other big oil producers' plans to cut production, indicating that the United States will not join them.

"This price will harm a lot of jobs in our country, and if I have to charge fees I will do whatever I have to do," Trump told reporters on a daily briefing.

Trump said he could not stand idly by about OPEC, as they were destroying themselves.

The British newspaper "Financial Times" quoted the head of the Canadian government of Alberta, Jason Kenny, as saying that Canada and the United States are considering imposing fees on Saudi and Russian oil imports if Moscow and Riyadh do not reach an agreement on reducing oil production.