Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz "thoroughly discussed" the current oil market conditions as prices have fallen by more than 20% in the past three weeks amid global oil demand concerns, a Kremlin statement said late Monday.

Saudi Arabia over-complied with its quota of 10.31 million b/d last year under the old agreement with the 23-member OPEC/non-OPEC coalition, collectively known as OPEC+, as the country made up for laggards Iraq and Nigeria, which flouted their quotas for most of last year.

The big annual boost in Saudi shipments followed a new marketing strategy by state-run Aramco, which signed at least two new supply pacts with private refiners in China that came into the market from late 2018. Previously, Saudi Aramco had only dealt with China’s state refiners in long-term contracts.

The crude stocks held by Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi were 1.41 million kiloliters, or 8.87 million barrels, at the end of November, equating to four days of Japanese oil consumption, up from 1.1 million kiloliters a month earlier, according to data released Wednesday by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Saudi Arabia is about to launch four giant projects to produce solar photovoltaic systems within a national renewable energy program.

The company, which builds power and desalinated water plants and has 50% of its portfolio in Saudi Arabia, plans to expand into new markets, Paddy Padmanthan told Reuters on the sidelines of an energy event in Abu Dhabi.

The ceremony was held in the presence of Ali Asadov, Prime Minister of Azerbaijan; Parviz Shahbazov, Minister of Energy; Mohammad Abunayyan, Chairman of ACWA Power, and Rajit Nanda, Chief Investment Officer of ACWA Power.

Aramco has vowed to pump almost $160 billion into growth in the natural gas sector over the next decade, with a sizable portion of that money to be designated for LNG projects overseas.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait signed an agreement Tuesday to resume pumping at two major oilfields in a shared neutral zone shut for five years due to a bilateral disagreement, officials said.

Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) has completed, through its subsidiary Aramco Overseas Company B.V. (AOC), the acquisition of 17% of Hyundai Oilbank from Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings, for approximately US$1.2 Billion. The completion follows receipt of all necessary regulatory consents and approvals.