Russia to work with Opec+ to support world oil market: Putin

Bloomberg

Russia is ready to cooperate with its Opec+ partners to support the world oil market, even though it’s comfortable with current crude prices, President Vladimir Putin said.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec)+ mechanism “has already established itself as an
effective tool in ensuring long-term stability in global energy markets,” Putin told a meeting with ministers in Moscow on Sunday. The fact that Russia has large financial reserves to cushion the impact of turbulence in the market “doesn’t eliminate the need for action, including in cooperation with our foreign partners,” he said.
Putin commented ahead of the March 5-6 Opec+ meeting in Vienna where Saudi Arabia is pushing for swift production cuts to compensate for the drop in oil demand due to coronavirus. Russia, the most important non-Opec partner in the producers’ coalition, has so far been reluctant.
Current oil prices are “acceptable” for the Russian budget and economy, though “it is difficult to predict how long-term the trend will be,” the president said, adding that he intended to meet with Russian oil producers.
The past week was the worst for the oil market since the 2008 financial crash and “we need to be prepared for a variety of scenarios,” Putin said.

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