WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th April, 2020) US President Donald Trump thanked the leaders of Russia and Saudi Arabia for the Sunday OPEC+ oil production cut deal which is expected to bring stability to the energy markets, the White House said in a statement.
"Today, President Donald J. Trump spoke with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. President Trump thanked President Putin for working with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and other oil producing states to calm global energy markets," the Sunday statement says, adding that Trump also spoke with Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and thanked him for working with Russia.
According to the release, Trump welcomed the commitment made by Russia and Saudi Arabia to return oil production to levels consistent with global energy and financial market stability.
OPEC+ oil producers reached a new agreement on Sunday to collectively reduce oil production by 9.7 million barrels a day for two months, starting from May 1. After that, production will be cut by 7.7 million barrels a day for 6 months, until December 31. Starting from January of next year until April 2022 oil production will be reduced by 5.8 million barrels per day.
The oil production of October 2018 was taken as the baseline for calculating the adjustments for all countries, except Russia and Saudi Arabia, which have the same baseline level of 11 million barrels a day.
Trump said on Twitter on Sunday that the new OPEC+ deal was "great" and thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin and King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia for the achievement. According to the US president, the new deal "will save hundreds of thousands of energy jobs in the United States."
According to a final communique released after the Sunday agreement, a possible extension of the new OPEC+ deal will be discussed in December 2021. A meeting will also be held this June via videoconference to see if any further actions are needed to balance the market.
