Saudi, Russia Reaffirm OPEC+ Deal on Million-Barrel Supply Boost
By Grant Smith (bloomberg.com) / July 3 2018
Khalid Al-Falih, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, (right) and Alexander Novak, Russia’s energy minister. Photographer: Akos Stiller/Bloomberg
Saudi Arabia and Russia reaffirmed an agreement between OPEC and its allies to increase oil production by 1 million barrels a day.
Their joint announcement came days after U.S. President Donald Trump said he’d received assurances from Saudi Arabia that the kingdom could boost output by double that amount. Trump’s assertion was tempered by the White House the same evening.
Energy ministers Khalid Al-Falih and Alexander Novak spoke on the phone on Monday, and reiterated the terms of the agreement reached last month in Vienna, according to statements from the Saudi and Russian energy ministries.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners agreed on June 23 that they were cutting output far more than originally intended in a deal stuck in 2016, and should restore output to correct this. The two statements repeated that this involves an adjustment “equivalent to an additional 1 million barrels a day.”
Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed the process of monitoring supply from the coalition of oil producers needs to be modified to reflect this new objective.
