Russia for the first time publicly embraced talking to the OPEC oil cartel about jointly cutting global oil production by up to 5 percent to prop up collapsing oil prices.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on January 28 in St. Petersburg that he is ready for such talks, sending oil prices soaring by as much as 8 percent to $36 a barrel in London trading and buoying stocks on exchanges from New York to Shanghai.
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“You have to take this seriously now. The key will be if Russia can deliver,” Gary Ross, a veteran OPEC watcher and founder of U.S.-based Pira energy group, told Reuters.
“Unconfirmed reports that Saudi Arabia has offered to cut oil output by up to 5 percent if Russia does the same should be taken seriously, if only because the two countries each produce around 10 million barrels per day. This represents almost 20 percent of global supply,” Julian Jessop, head of commodities research at Capital Economics, said in a note to clients
BRU Price at posting:
22.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
