OPEC Member Countries and non-OPEC parties, Azerbaijan, Kingdom of Bahrain, Brunei Darussalam, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Sultanate of Oman, the Russian Federation, Republic of Sudan, and the Republic of South Sudan, taking into account the decision reached by OPEC at the 172nd Meeting of the Conference, recognized the need for continuing cooperation among oil exporting countries in order to achieve a lasting stability in the oil market.

No one envies the Saudi Arabians now. Yes, the Brent price has rebounded from its of 2015-16 lows to stabilise over $50. At the Opec meeting in Vienna this week the delegates agreed to extend production curbs for another nine months.

Ministers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies meet in Vienna to decide whether to prolong their agreement. Major producers including Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iraq favor an extension for nine months and, while other options will be discussed, consensus is building around an agreement that runs through next March.

A balanced global crude oil market likely will remain elusive into 2018 because so many underlying dynamics have changed in the last 10 years. The outlook is worse for LNG because markets are saturated, prices are depressed, and economics are unfavorable.

The July light, sweet crude contract on NYMEX climbed 34¢ on May 23 to close at $51.47/bbl. The August contract rose 32¢ to settle at $51.72/bbl. The natural gas price for June fell 11¢ to a rounded $3.22/MMbtu. The Henry Hub cash gas price was $3.20/MMbtu, down 1¢. The Brent crude contract for July on London’s ICE gained 28¢ to $54.15/bbl. The August contract was up 30¢ to $54.41/bbl. The June gas oil contract held unchanged at $479/tonne. OPEC’s basket of crudes on May 23 settled at $51.34/bbl, down 20¢.

Russia itself is now slightly overcomplying with its commitment to cut 300,000 b/d of oil production from October levels, having achieved a 310,000 b/d cut since the beginning of the month.

As a major buyer of OPEC crude, India is hoping to leverage its ties with the oil producer bloc to gain "preferential treatment," the country's petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan told.

Brent crude LCOc1 ended a run of four days of consecutive gains to trade 36 cents lower at $53.51 per barrel at 0831 GMT. U.S. light crude CLc1 was down 33 cents at $50.80.

“India is very price sensitive. I need to ask how do I serve my citizens best. We are free to import oil from any part of the world . . . from the US and Canada, as well as more supplies from Russia.”

Saudi Aramco today signed agreements with major U.S. companies which will pave way for the company to enhance its business synergy with the U.S. as well as attracting investments from its U.S. counterparts to the Kingdom.