Oil Prices Plunge, Russia Confirms it Will Continue to Cooperate with Saudi Arabia

Business

February 28th, 6:17am

Moscow - Asharq Al-Awsat

FILE PHOTO: An oil pump is seen at sunset outside Vaudoy-en-Brie, near Paris, France April 23, 2018. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

Russia is "very satisfied" with its cooperation with Saudi Arabia and wants to continue such collaboration within the alliance between OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers, as well as bilaterally, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak has said. "We are very satisfied with the cooperation with our partners, Saudi Arabia, and naturally we want to continue to cooperate not only in the framework of multilateral relations, but also bilaterally … we have a lot of joint projects," he said. Novak added that Russia was holding onto its expectations of a potential hit to the global demand of oil due to the coronavirus outbreak in China and beyond, adding that estimates may change given that the virus is spreading in Europe. Oil prices plunged to their lowest in more than a year on Friday, putting them on track for the biggest weekly decline in more than four years, as the rapid spread of the coronavirus stoked fears of slowing global demand. Investors are increasingly worried the epidemic could turn into a pandemic, as the virus has spread beyond its epicenter in China to another 46 countries. The most active Brent crude contract for May was down $1.37, or 2.7 percent, at $50.36 a barrel by 0445 GMT, a 14-month low. The front-month April contract expires later on Friday. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell $1.33, or 2.8 percent, to $45.76 per barrel. US crude has fallen about 14 percent for the week, the biggest weekly decline since May 2011. Oil markets are hoping for steeper supply cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies including Russia, who have said they will take a responsible approach in the wake of the virus outbreak. The producer group known as OPEC+, which is currently reducing output by roughly 1.2 million barrels per day to support prices, is due to meet in Vienna on March 5-6. "At least a 1 million bpd cut for the second quarter strikes us as necessary to merely moderate inventory builds, and we confess to underestimating demand destruction over the last several weeks," Reuters quoted Jefferies analyst Jason Gammel as saying.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2153641/oil-prices-plunge-russia-confirms-it-will-continue-cooperate-saudi-arabia