Russian President Vladimir Putin struck a deal with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman to extend the OPEC+ agreement at current production levels for the rest of this year and potentially into early 2020.

The countries signed an $8.3 billion economic cooperation pact that included a $6 billion deal between Saudi Aramco and the Korean company S-Oil to build an oil refinery and downstream petrochemical facilities in South Korea.

Saudi Arabia’s crude oil production approached a four-year low, averaging an estimated 9.9 million barrels per day (b/d). Production declined more than 1 million b/d since its estimated all-time high production levels in October and November 2018

OPEC and 10 non-OPEC partners, led by Russia, agreed in December to cut a combined 1.2 million b/d of production in the first half of 2019.

In line with plans to localise the production of renewable energy in Saudi Arabia as part of its Vision 2030 economic diversification push, seven photovoltaic solar power projects with a capacity of 1.52 GW and worth $1.51bn (SAR5.6bn) were launched on the side-lines of the recently concluded Saudi Elenex exhibition.

The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), a multilateral development financial institution, forecast in its MENA Annual Energy Investment Outlook 2019 that current and planned energy investments in the region add up to $1trn for the next five years.

"Cooperation will continue between Russia and Saudi Arabia," Ibrahim al-Muhanna said at the International Oil Summit in Paris, stressing that "it is the core of OPEC+ cooperation."

The Saudi Arabian Oil Company, Saudi Aramco, and Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings today announced that they have reached an agreement for Saudi Aramco’s subsidiary, Aramco Overseas Company B.V (AOC), to purchase a 17 percent stake in South Korea's Hyundai Oilbank, a subsidiary of Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings.

Saudi Arabia plans to issue 118 billion riyals ($31.5 billion) in debt this year to help finance the national budget deficit, the country’s Debt Management Office (DMO), part of the ministry of finance, said.

China's crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia surged 28.5% year on year to 1.56 million b/d in February, surpassing Russia to become the top crude supplier in the month, latest data from the General Administration of Customs showed.