Russian President plans to hold new talks on oil prices

After the agreement of the oil-producing countries in the OPEC + network to reduce production, Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to hold new talks on oil prices.

The head of state announced this after calls to United States President Donald Trump and political leaders in Saudi Arabia on Friday, the Russian news agency TASS reported.

The OPEC + group of states, which, in addition to members of the OPEC export cartel, includes other states such as Russia, agreed to reduce daily production by ten million barrels (159 liters each). This corresponds to about ten percent of the global supply. However, according to OPECc, the agreement reached in a long videoconference can only enter into force if Mexico has also accepted it.

The price of oil had fallen sharply in recent weeks, sometimes even the lowest level in 18 years. The reasons are the low world demand for raw materials due to the coronavirus pandemic and the price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia.

The video conference from OPEC countries, their OPEC + network partners and other funding countries started on Thursday afternoon and continued until Friday morning.

Under the agreement, production in May and June will be reduced by a whopping 10 million barrels per day: one barrel equals 159 liters. From July to December, production will be eight million barrels per day below the current level. Mexico is the only major oil-producing country that has not previously participated in this agreement.

United States President Donald Trump said Thursday after a phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Washington that OPEC and its partners were on the verge of a “deal.”

The biggest point of conflict in the consultations, according to the financial news agency Bloomberg, was Mexico’s refusal to accept its participation in the reduction of production, which would amount to 400,000 barrels per day. Mexico’s energy minister, Rocío Nahle García, said on the Twitter online service that her country had proposed a cut of 100,000 barrels per day.

According to OPEC, another conference call was agreed on June 10, in which “new measures” to stabilize the price of oil will be discussed.