Russia And Saudi Arabia Vow To Continue OPEC+ Oil Policy Cooperation

• During the visit of Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister to Moscow, Russia and Saudi Arabia pledged to continue OPEC+ cooperation.
• The current OPEC+ agreement will remain in place until the end of this year, at which point members will reconsider the situation.
• Despite Russia unilaterally cutting its oil production and Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister visiting Kyiv, energy relations between the two countries remain strong.

The leaders of the OPEC+ coalition, Russia and Saudi Arabia, pledged to continue close cooperation in oil policy in the group during a visit of Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister to Moscow on Thursday.

“We have reaffirmed the mutual readiness for further coordination of efforts in OPEC+,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, as carried by Interfax, after talks with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.

“All countries participating in this format are consistently fulfilling their obligations to maintain the proper balance and stability on the global energy market,” Lavrov was quoted as saying.

The current OPEC+ agreements remain in force until the end of this year, after which the members of the OPEC+ group will consider the situation and make new decisions, Lavrov said.

Russia has said it would reduce its oil production by 500,000 bpd this month in response to the Western sanctions, a move that may affect the level of its oil and fuel exports. Yet, OPEC+ delegates have said that the alliance doesn’t plan to change its oil production targets after Russia announced a cut in its output for March.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said today that Riyadh is in close coordination with Russia on energy and is committed to the OPEC+ agreement.

Saudi Arabia is also seeking to strengthen ties with Russia on all levels, the Saudi minister noted during this visit to Moscow.

While seeking closer ties with Russia, the Saudi foreign minister has also visited Kyiv recently for talks with top Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The visit was the first from such a high-ranking Saudi official to Ukraine in 30 years.

During the visit, Saudi Arabia signed agreements for $400 million in aid to Ukraine. The $400-million package includes financing of $300 million worth of oil derivatives as a grant from Saudi Arabia through the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) in favor of Ukraine, the Saudi Press Agency said. The remaining $100 million will be humanitarian assistance to Ukraine from Saudi Arabia.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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