Il Nuovo Postiglione - Putin, Saudi leader urge oil cooperation as prices flag

NYSE - LSE

RIO	0.42%	103.27	$
BTI	-1.12%	55.35	$
CMSD	-0.34%	20.69	$
AZN	-1.27%	162.7	$
BCE	-0.59%	23.67	$
BCC	2.64%	79.21	$
GSK	-1.96%	49.89	$
RBGPF	0%	70	$
CMSC	-0.53%	20.81	$
NGG	-0.06%	78.12	$
JRI	-0.58%	12.14	$
RELX	-3.21%	35.51	$
VOD	1.89%	16.9	$
BP	0.52%	43.81	$
RYCEF	0.7%	19.92	$

Putin, Saudi leader urge oil cooperation as prices flag

POLITICS 07.12.2023

Putin, Saudi leader urge oil cooperation as prices flag / Photo: - - SPA/AFP

The leaders of Saudi Arabia and Russia used a rare face-to-face meeting to urge oil producers to stick to pledged supply cuts, a joint statement said Thursday.

Text size:

Russian President Vladimir Putin's trip to the Saudi capital a day earlier came as oil prices continued to slide, with US oil finishing below $70 per barrel for the first time since July.

Analysts have begun to consider the possibility that Saudi Arabia could abruptly decide to open the spigots, recalling a move by the kingdom in 2014 to counter rising US production.

Meeting in Riyadh, Putin and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Gulf kingdom's de facto ruler, highlighted the work of the 23-member OPEC+ group of oil producers "in enhancing the stability of global oil markets."

"They stressed... the need for all participating countries to adhere to the OPEC+ agreement, in a way that serves the interests of producers and consumers and supports the growth of the global economy," said a statement from the official Saudi Press Agency.

The OPEC+ bloc unveiled fresh supply cuts after a virtual meeting last week, with Russia saying it would slash oil exports by 500,000 barrels a day between January and March, having already introduced a cut of 300,000 barrels a day earlier this year.

Saudi Arabia said it would it would extend its voluntary production cut of one million barrels per day over the same period.

Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman agreed to make smaller cuts.

Cooperation between Russia and Saudi Arabia on supply cuts has at times drawn the ire of Washington.

Putin's trip on Wednesday, which also included a stop in the United Arab Emirates, was only his third outside the former Soviet Union since he invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Putin and Prince Mohammed also expressed "deep concern about the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza", where Israel launched military operations to eradicate Hamas after the Palestinian militants staged the deadliest attack in Israel's history on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking around 240 hostage, according to Israeli officials.

The death toll in Gaza has soared above 16,200, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

A.Rastelli--INP

Featured

25 years on, America seeks to keep 9/11 memories alive

A quarter century after the era-defining attacks of September 11, the United States is eager to keep alive the memory of a 2001 trauma that is fading as the proportion of Americans who did not experience it firsthand grows.

'Trumpapalooza' tests Republican bet on unpopular US president

US Republicans will gather in Dallas, Texas, next week for a two-day convention aimed at convincing voters that Donald Trump is effectively on the ballot in November -- even as the deeply unpopular president threatens to become a liability for his own party.

North Korea vows nuclear-armed navy as US ally drills open

Leader Kim Jong Un vowed to build North Korea's navy into a nuclear-armed force, state media reported Monday as US allies' maritime drills were to begin.

US envoys have 'more effective proposals': Ukraine official

Washington's envoys have brought new, "more effective" proposals on ending the war with Russia to Kyiv, and President Volodymyr Zelensky is meeting them again in a trio format, a senior Ukrainian presidential official told AFP Sunday.