Saudi Arabia and Russia discuss Opec+ co-ordination

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and President Vladimir Putin agree on further co-ordination to support market stability

The Opec+ alliance is drawing back 7.7 million barrels per day from the market from August to December 2020. Reuters

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed their commitment to work together to maintain the stability of energy markets in line with the framework of the Opec+ alliance.

"The field of fighting the spread of coronavirus was discussed, as well as reasserting the two sides' continuation of co-ordination, in order to support the oil markets' stability and the growth of the world economy," according to a Saudi Press Agency report.

Crown Prince Mohammed and Mr Putin, who spoke over the phone on Saturday, called on producers in the alliance to stick to the agreed output cuts.

The call came after another phone conversation on October 13.

They "had an extensive exchange of views on the implementation of current agreements within the Opec+ format", the Kremlin said according to the Russian news agency Tass.

“Both sides once more emphasised their readiness for further close co-ordination in this field to maintain stability in the world energy market.”

Opec+, which is led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, is expected to stick to tapered output cuts to be made at the end of the year, UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said last week.

The group does not expect oil demand to peak before 2040, he said.

The producer alliance agreed to undertake production cuts of up to 9.7 million barrels per day between May and July to reverse a record decline in demand due to the coronavirus-induced slowdown.

The alliance is drawing back 7.7 million bpd from the markets from August to December.

The oil producers are set to reduce the output cuts to 5.8 million bpd from January 2021 until April 2022.

The agreement will be in effect for two years, but the deal’s parameters may be revised in December 2021.

Last week, the International Energy Agency said the pandemic could usher in the slowest decade of energy demand growth in a century.