Russia to Cooperate With Saudis on Oil, Avoiding Output Cuts
By Dina Khrennikova and Henry Meyer Nov 21, 2014 11:57 AM ET
Russia said it’s willing to cooperate with Saudi Arabia on the oil market, while avoiding a commitment to limit output to reverse plunging prices.
The two countries also sought to overcome differences on Syria during the first ever talks in Moscow between their foreign ministers, marking a thawing of ties between the world’s two biggest oil exporters.
Oil has collapsed into a bear market this year as the U.S. pumps crude at the fastest rate in more than three decades and demand shows signs of weakening. Russia, which depends on oil and gas for about half its revenue, is on the brink of recession amid U.S. and European sanctions targeting its energy and financial industries.
Saudi Arabia and Russia, which together produce 25 percent of global oil, agreed the market “must be free of attempts to influence it for political and geopolitical reasons,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after the talks today. Where supply and demand are “artificially distorted,” oil exporters “have a right to take measures to correct these non-objective factors.”
Lavrov and Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said in a joint statement that they’ll coordinate on “issues” affecting the energy and oil markets, without giving more detail.
more...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-21/russia-has-no-plans-yet-to-cut-oil-production-minister-says.html
