Saudi, Russia agree record oil cut under U.S. pressure as demand crashes www.reuters.com
DUBAI/MOSCOW/LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC and its allies led by Russia agreed on Thursday to cut their oil output by more than a fifth and said they expected the United States and other producers to join in their effort to prop up prices hammered by the coronavirus crisis.
The cuts by OPEC and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, amount to 10 million barrels per day (bpd) or 10% of global supplies, with another 5 million bpd expected to come from other nations to help deal with the deepest oil crisis in decades.
Global fuel demand has plunged by around 30 million bpd, or 30% of global supplies, as steps to fight the virus have grounded planes, cut vehicle usage and curbed economic activity.
An unprecedented 15 million bpd cut still won’t remove enough crude to stop the world’s storage facilities quickly filling up. And far from signalling any readiness to offer support, U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened OPEC if it did not fix the oil market’s problem of oversupply.
Trump, who has said U.S. output was already falling due to low prices, warned Riyadh it could face sanctions and tariffs on its oil if it did not cut enough to help the U.S. oil industry, whose higher costs have left it struggling with low prices.
A White House aide said Trump held a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and King Salman of Saudi Arabia, after a U.S. official said the move by OPEC+ sent an “important signal” to the market.
Both OPEC and Russian officials have said the scale of the crisis required involvement of all producers.
Published Date:2020-04-10