Russia, Saudi Arabia agree to strengthen tie to stabilise oil prices

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman agreed on Wednesday to strengthen coordination to cut oil production and stabilise the global oil market.

The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin and Bin Salman also agreed on the need to fully implement the agreement reached in April to reduce global output by about ten per cent after a slump in demand caused by coronavirus lockdowns.

The OPEC+ agreement came into effect at the beginning of May and stipulated a cut in production of about 9.7 million barrels per day.

The production cut has caused oil prices to increase to an average of $35 per barrel, compared to the $15 per barrel cost they recorded last month; however, the global oversupply continues to thwart further increases in price.

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