Putin Proposed OPEC+ to Reduce Oil Production by 10 Million Barrels per Day

The President of Russia considers it necessary to reduce oil production by OPEC+ countries by a quarter. In the first quarter of 2020, they produced an average of 40 million barrels per day. Vladimir Putin proposed that OPEC + member countries reduce total oil production by 10 million barrels per day from the level of the first quarter of 2020. “Of course, this should all happen in partnership," Putin said on Friday, April 3, at a meeting on the situation in the world oil market. According to him, Russia does not seek to ensure that oil prices are “too high”, but wants to avoid that they are “too low.” The head of the Kremlin called the comfortable price for the Russian Federation $ 42 per barrel, based on this price the Russian budget has been drawn up. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the meeting was attended by members of the Russian government, the presidential administration, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov, Presidential Aide Maxim Oreshkin, Energy Minister Alexander Novak, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Chairman of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina and heads of major oil companies: LUKOIL - Vagit Alekperov, Gazprom Neft - Alexander Dyukov, Tatneft - Nail Maganov, Rosneft - Igor Sechin. The Director General of the RDIF Kirill Dmitriev was also present. OPEC+ Deal Failure Putin also said that the reason for the collapse in prices was Saudi Arabia’s withdrawal from the OPEC+ deal, increased production and the country's willingness to provide oil discounts to “get rid of competitors producing shale oil.” He noted that Russia does not set such a goal and wants to take into account the interests of all partners. On April 1, the OPEC+ deal to reduce oil production was terminated. Since then, world oil prices have fallen by more than half. The price of Russian Urals oil fell to $ 10. The average daily oil production at OPEC+ in the first quarter amounted to about 40 million barrels, about 11 million of them produced by Russia. OPEC+ includes 13 member states of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), as well as Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.