Russia-Saudi Arabia Agreements Help in Reaching OPEC+ Consensus - Saudi Energy Minister
The bilateral agreements between Moscow and Riyadh on the future of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC oil output reduction deal facilitate reaching a cartel-wide consensus, Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Khalid Falih said on Monday, asked to comment on a statement by Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh, arguing that such decisions should not be taken outside the organization
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on the sidelines of the G20 summit on Saturday that the two countries had coordinated their stands on the future of the deal and would both back its extension. Earlier in the day, the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee of OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers recommended to extend the current oil output freeze agreement for nine months. Zanganeh said that his country agreed to extend the deal, but added that such decisions should be made by OPEC in Vienna and "not by external forces at events such as the G20 summit in Japan.
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"We treat with respect all OPEC members. The fact is that Saudi Arabia and Russia are the largest [oil] producers we cut the output more than anyone else, and we ought to first agree with each other and then discuss our agreements with our colleagues. I believe it helps reaching a consensus, which we all want," Falih said.
He added that over the past two days, he had met with colleagues from many states, and the agreements with Russia were always a good groundwork in such meetings.
In December, participants of the OPEC+ deal agreed to reduce overall production by 1.2 million barrels per day in the first half of 2019. OPEC member states pledged to cut production by 800,000 barrels per day, while non-OPEC countries agreed to reduce it by 400,000 barrels per day.