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DPA
Moscow
Energy ministers within the expanded OPEC+ oil cartel discussed on Thursday whether to reduce output by 10 million barrels per day to raise prices for the commodity, Russian state media reported.
“They plan a reduction by 10 million barrels for May-June,” Russian news agency TASS reported, quoting an undisclosed participant in the negotiations.
The Russian side warned in its opening statement that oil demand, which has plummeted amid the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic, could continue to decline.
“We currently see a very strong decline [in demand] by 10-15 million barrels daily,” Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told the meeting, conducted remotely in private, TASS reported.
Many members of the OPEC+ cartel, an expanded format of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries that includes Russia, have economies dependent on oil prices.
The benchmark Brent crude oil for example has lost about half of its value since late February.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that he thought a global cut of about 10 million barrels a day was feasible, a number in line with what the United States has been considering.
Oil prices rose sharply as the meeting opened, extending earlier big gains, but then fell back again later to post more modest gains as nervous traders took profits in volatile business.
The meeting is seen as the best chance of providing support to prices which have been wallowing near two-decade lows.
At the beginning of the meeting, OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo warned that the rapid changes wrought by the virus meant the industry’s “supply and demand fundamentals are horrifying”.
“Our industry is hemorrhaging; no-one has been able to stem the bleeding,” Barkindo said, bemoaning companies already filing for bankruptcy and tens of thousands of jobs that have been lost.
Algeria’s Energy Minister Mohamed Arkab also warned of “an intolerable free-fall” in the market, according the APS agency.
Late Wednesday, a spokesman for the Russian energy ministry told the TASS agency that Moscow was “prepared to cut 1.6 million barrels a day”, which would be the equivalent of 14 percent of Russia’s production in the first quarter of 2020.
Saudi Arabia will on Friday host a separate virtual gathering of energy ministers from the G20 group of major economies in a similar bid to ensure “market stability”.
Oil prices have slumped since the beginning of the year as the COVID-19 pandemic sends large parts of the planet into lockdown and brings the global economy to a virtual standstill.
Compounding the problem, Riyadh and Moscow have both ramped up output in a bid to hold on to market share and undercut US shale producers.
In his opening statement to the meeting carried by the Rossiya 24 channel, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak welcomed the presence of several nations outside the OPEC+ alliance, namely Canada, Norway, Argentina, Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Chad, Ecuador and Trinidad and Tobago.
The International Energy Agency warned Monday that the world is set for its first annual decline in oil consumption in more than a decade because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The outbreak has shut down large swathes of the global economy, including key sectors such as air travel, manufacturing and retail.
The global oil glut could reach 25 million bpd in April, according to Rystad Energy.
Moscow
Energy ministers within the expanded OPEC+ oil cartel discussed on Thursday whether to reduce output by 10 million barrels per day to raise prices for the commodity, Russian state media reported.
“They plan a reduction by 10 million barrels for May-June,” Russian news agency TASS reported, quoting an undisclosed participant in the negotiations.
The Russian side warned in its opening statement that oil demand, which has plummeted amid the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic, could continue to decline.
“We currently see a very strong decline [in demand] by 10-15 million barrels daily,” Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told the meeting, conducted remotely in private, TASS reported.
Many members of the OPEC+ cartel, an expanded format of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries that includes Russia, have economies dependent on oil prices.
The benchmark Brent crude oil for example has lost about half of its value since late February.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that he thought a global cut of about 10 million barrels a day was feasible, a number in line with what the United States has been considering.
Oil prices rose sharply as the meeting opened, extending earlier big gains, but then fell back again later to post more modest gains as nervous traders took profits in volatile business.
The meeting is seen as the best chance of providing support to prices which have been wallowing near two-decade lows.
At the beginning of the meeting, OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo warned that the rapid changes wrought by the virus meant the industry’s “supply and demand fundamentals are horrifying”.
“Our industry is hemorrhaging; no-one has been able to stem the bleeding,” Barkindo said, bemoaning companies already filing for bankruptcy and tens of thousands of jobs that have been lost.
Algeria’s Energy Minister Mohamed Arkab also warned of “an intolerable free-fall” in the market, according the APS agency.
Late Wednesday, a spokesman for the Russian energy ministry told the TASS agency that Moscow was “prepared to cut 1.6 million barrels a day”, which would be the equivalent of 14 percent of Russia’s production in the first quarter of 2020.
Saudi Arabia will on Friday host a separate virtual gathering of energy ministers from the G20 group of major economies in a similar bid to ensure “market stability”.
Oil prices have slumped since the beginning of the year as the COVID-19 pandemic sends large parts of the planet into lockdown and brings the global economy to a virtual standstill.
Compounding the problem, Riyadh and Moscow have both ramped up output in a bid to hold on to market share and undercut US shale producers.
In his opening statement to the meeting carried by the Rossiya 24 channel, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak welcomed the presence of several nations outside the OPEC+ alliance, namely Canada, Norway, Argentina, Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Chad, Ecuador and Trinidad and Tobago.
The International Energy Agency warned Monday that the world is set for its first annual decline in oil consumption in more than a decade because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The outbreak has shut down large swathes of the global economy, including key sectors such as air travel, manufacturing and retail.
The global oil glut could reach 25 million bpd in April, according to Rystad Energy.
