Putin indicates Russia ready to cut oil production

He hinted he could now support cutting oil production by about 10 million barrels a day to shore up falling prices

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting on global energy markets via a video link. Reuters

Russia is ready to cooperate with Saudi Arabia and the United States to cut oil production, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
Oil prices have fallen dramatically as the coronavirus pandemic sweeps the world, bringing widespread disruption to travel.

Oil rounded off its worst quarter by the end of March as prices plunged 70 per cent from the start of the year.

The Russian president indicated he now supported cutting oil production by about 10 million barrels a day to shore up falling prices.

He said Russia was ready for agreements within the framework of the Opec+ group and that "we are ready for cooperation with the United States of America on this issue," according to a statement published by the Kremlin.

He said: "I believe that it is necessary to combine efforts in order to balance the market and reduce production."

Russia had previously ruled out oil production cuts.

Demand for oil has weakened worldwide amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said: "Having seen the dramatic consequence of its last month veto, Russia has interest to agree on a cut as well.

Crude futures surged on Friday, with both US and Brent contracts posting their largest weekly percentage gains on record due to hopes that a global deal to cut crude supply worldwide will emerge early next week.