2020-03-12 12:55:00
SAUDI ARABIA, RUSSIA TALKS
PLATTS - 10 Mar 2020 - Saudi Arabia may soon dispatch its former energy minister, Khalid al-Falih, for talks with Russian counterpart Alexander Novak to de-escalate a ratcheting oil price war between the two major producers, a Saudi source told S&P Global Platts.
Falih, who helped broker the OPEC-Russia alliance in late 2016 with Novak to stem what was then a three-year slump in crude prices through a series of production cuts, would be banking on his warm relationship with his Russian counterpart to smooth over tensions that have led to the biggest oil market rout in some 30 years.
The countries have exchanged recriminations since OPEC+ negotiations broke down Friday over how to respond to the impact of coronavirus on global oil demand and have threatened to unleash crude barrels into an already oversupplied market.
Falih "may be going to Moscow shortly," the source said, requesting anonymity because the discussions were sensitive.
It would be a remarkable comeback for the former minister, who was unceremoniously dismissed from his post in September -- and stripped of his chairmanship of state oil company Aramco, as well -- and replaced with current energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the first royal to fill the role.
Falih was recently named Saudi Arabia's investment minister, a newly created position tasked with attracting foreign investment to further the kingdom's economic diversification goals.
Russia has long been seeking to capitalize on its OPEC ties with investment deals, which have been slow to materialize despite official state visits by Saudi King Salman to Moscow in 2017 and Russian President Vladimir Putin to Riyadh in October.
Russia's energy ministry did not respond to a request for comment, though Novak said Monday that he was open to future cooperation with OPEC+.
"We may reach new agreements if needed," he said.
With no deal in place for further production cuts after Friday's tense OPEC+ meeting, current production quotas are set to expire at the end of the month.
Both Saudi Arabia and Russia have since signaled they plan to boost production and exports.
Saudi Aramco, after slashing its official selling prices on Sunday, announced Monday that it plans to supply 12.3 million b/d of crude to the market in April, while Novak said Russia could potentially increase its oil production by up to 200,000-300,000 b/d in the short term.
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Earlier:
2020, March, 11, 12:20:00
SAUDI ARABIA, RUSSIA'S OIL UP
The clash of oil titans Saudi Arabia and Russia sparked a 25% slump in crude prices on Monday, triggering panic selling on Wall Street and other equity markets that have already been badly hit by the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
2020, March, 11, 12:10:00
ARAMCO WILL PROVIDE 12.3 MBD
Saudi Aramco announces that it will provide its customers with 12.3 million barrels per day (MMBD) of crude oil in April
2020, March, 10, 13:35:00
RUSSIA'S OIL PRICE: $25-30
On Friday, Russia refused to sign a deal with OPEC and its non-OPEC allies on additional production cuts for the rest of 2020 to counter the fall in demand caused by the spreading coronavirus outbreak.
2020, March, 10, 13:30:00
SAUDI ARABIA'S OIL PRODUCTION GROWTH
Saudi Arabia has said it could raise production to 12 million barrels per day,
2020, March, 10, 13:25:00
ARAMCO'S IPO PROBLEMS
On Monday, Aramco shares opened trading at Riyals 27 ($7.19) before rising modestly to close at Riyals 28.35. That is 11.4% below its IPO price, prompting the company's valuation to slide to about $1.5 trillion from $1.7 trillion in December, in the wake of Friday's failure by OPEC and Russia to reach a deal on oil production cuts.
2020, March, 2, 12:50:00
RUSSIA'S OIL PRODUCTION 11.29 MBD
Russian oil output stood at 11.29 million barrels per day (bpd) in February,
