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Russia, Saudi Arabia reaffirm continuing energy cooperation

February 20, 2019 at 3:11 am

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Prince Mohammad Bin Salman on 1 December 2018 [Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images]

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud yesterday voiced their support for continuing coordination on the global energy market.

The Kremlin said in a statement that the two leaders expressed their keenness on strengthening the Russian-Saudi bilateral ties “at all levels.”

“Both sides [Russian and Saudi presidents] praised the high-level bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the areas of trade, economy and investment,” the statement read.

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Russia, along with other leading oil producers agreed with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in December to cut their oil production by a combined 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd), starting from January in an attempt to balance global oil markets and support prices.

The next ministerial OPEC and non-OPEC meeting is due to be held in mid-April in the Austrian capital of Vienna.

Saudi Arabia is the third largest producer of crude oil after the United States and Russia, with 10.4 million bpd. Russia is the second largest crude producer, with 11.3 million bpd of output.