“Russia will have to struggle for its market share one way or another,” said Andrey Polischuk, an oil and gas analyst at Raiffeisenbank AO in Moscow. Gazprom is gaining market muscle due to low oil now but may need changes to keep the price in line with competitors when crude rebounds, he said.

India's oil imports from Saudi Arabia and Iraq hit the highest in more than a decade last month as OPEC's top producers gained at the expense of Latin American crudes, a validation of the OPEC policy of maintaining output and fighting for market share.

Состоялась встреча Министра энергетики Российской Федерации Александра Новака с представителями трех стран ОПЕК - Министром нефти и минеральных ресурсов Саудовской Аравии Али аль-Наими, Министром нефти Катара Мохаммедом аль-Садом и Министром нефтяной и горнорудной промышленности Венесуэлы Эулохио дель Пино.

Oil giant Rosneft is interested in the privatization of Saudi Arabia’s national petroleum company Saudi Aramco, according to Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin who made the statement at the International Petroleum Week forum in London.

The 19th GCC summit took place amid the last great slump in oil prices, when crude had fallen to just $10 per barrel, worth around $14 today after adjusting for inflation.

“Everything is possible in theory. It was possible a year ago, a month ago. Nothing new has happened. This frenzy is idiotic. It stems from the fact that people can’t read.”

“Co-ordination between Russia and Opec has been discussed in the past and has always come to nothing, and it would be a shock if any different outcome occurred this time,” says James Henderson at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.

“While we view this outcome as unlikely, a 5% production cut by just Saudi Arabia and Russia would be sufficient to bring the market close to balance,” said Jason Gammel, oil analyst at Jefferies. “A balanced market…would set the stage for oil price recovery.”

"Demand will grow, as it has already started in 2015, and there will be a period not far into the future (when) demand will catch up with supply,"

Demand for OPEC's oil will rise to an average 31.65 million b/d in 2016, from 29.90 million b/d in 2015, the producer group said in its latest monthly report.