The oil price war continues ... Trump threatens to impose huge fees and exchange between Saudi and Russian

US President Donald Trump has said that he will impose very large fees on oil if prices continue to remain the same now, and this comes on the impact of a Saudi-Russian rift over the oil price crisis.

Trump added that he will do this to protect the energy sector in the United States, stressing that the imposition of fees means that the United States does not need foreign oil.

When asked at a press conference at the White House about the circumstances in which he would impose these fees, Trump said, "If the oil prices continue as they are, I will do so, yes (I will impose) very large fees."

Oil prices have fallen by nearly two-thirds this year after the spread of the Corona virus (Covid-19) hampered demand and as Russia and Saudi Arabia, the two main oil producers, increased their production in a war over a market share.

Trump has said before that he expects the two countries to reach an agreement to cut production by 15 million barrels per day. Neither country has confirmed his statements, but Trump expects to avoid charging fees.

"I will use the tariffs if I have to, but I do not think that I will have to, because the Russians will not benefit from that, and Saudi Arabia will not benefit from that. Oil and gas are their main sources of income and therefore it is clear that it is very bad for them," he added.

Swipe and gash
For its part, Russia criticized by the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, Saudi Arabia's actions in the oil markets, stressing that it will soon lead to the fulling of all oil tanks in the world.

Piskov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying on Sunday that Russia wanted constructive talks on the situation in the oil market and saw no alternative to the dialogue.

"Russia does not favor the termination of the OPEC Plus agreement, President (Vladimir) Putin and Russia are committed to a constructive and irreplaceable negotiating process for the stability of the global energy market," he added.

Reuters quoted Aramco officials confirmed their postponement of oil shipments prices until next month, in a measure considered unprecedented by Saudi Arabia, pending the outcome of a meeting between OPEC and its allies regarding possible production cuts.

OPEC and its allies will meet next Thursday to discuss a possible reduction in global crude supplies in order to end a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia that prompted the American president to intervene.

"It is an unprecedented measure that Aramco has not taken before. Official selling prices for May will depend on the outcome of the OPEC Plus meeting. We are doing our best to make it successful, including taking this extraordinary step to postpone the official selling prices," the insider said.

Selling prices
Aramco usually issues official selling prices by the fifth of each month, on the basis of which the prices of Iranian, Kuwaiti and Iraqi materials are determined, and affects more than 12 million barrels per day of oil destined for Asia.

The source said that the OPEC Plus meeting was initially scheduled for Monday, but was postponed to April 9 "to allow more time to communicate with all producers, including OPEC Plus and others."

He added that Riyadh wanted to avoid repeating the results of the March meeting in which oil talks between OPEC and allies collapsed because of Russia's refusal to cut production.

The coordinated cuts between OPEC members and others led by Russia ended at the end of last month after they helped support crude oil prices since they began in January 2017.

Oil prices hit their lowest level in 18 years on March 30, due to public isolation measures to contain the Corona virus and the failure of OPEC and other producers to extend coordinated production cuts.