2020-04-01 13:00:00
RUSSIA, U.S. OIL DISCUSSION
REUTERS - APRIL 1, 2020 - U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette spoke with his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak about the slump in global oil markets on Tuesday, and they agreed to hold future discussions involving other major world oil producers and consumers, the U.S. Energy Department said in a release.
The call occurred a day after President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed in a phone conversation to have their top energy officials discuss the drop in global oil markets.
The discussions between Washington and Moscow mark a new twist in global oil diplomacy since a failed deal earlier this month between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia to cut production ignited a price war that sent oil prices tumbling.
Brouillette and Novak "had a productive discussion on the current volatility in global oil markets," Energy Department spokeswoman Shaylyn Hynes said.
"Secretary Brouillette and Minister Novak discussed energy market developments and agreed to continue dialogue among major energy producers and consumers, including through the G20, to address this unprecedented period of disruption in the world economy," she said.
The United States has grown in recent years into the world's largest oil and gas producer, thanks to a technology-driven shale drilling boom. But the current price of oil is below the production cost of many American drillers. That has threatened the highly leveraged U.S. shale industry.
Trump on Monday said Saudi Arabia and Russia "both went crazy" in their oil-price war and added that "I never thought I'd be saying that maybe we have to have an oil (price) increase, because we do."
The Trump administration is also trying to persuade the world's top oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, to cut crude output, and will soon send a special energy envoy, Victoria Coates, to the kingdom.
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Earlier:
2020, March, 30, 10:30:00
OIL PRICE: NEAR $23
Brent was down 5.8%, or $1.45, to $23.48 a barrel, WTI fell as far as $19.92, near an 18-year low hit earlier this month, and was last trading down 3.8%, or $0.82, at $20.69 a barrel.
2020, March, 30, 10:25:00
#OilPriceWar AGAINST U.S.
A group of six U.S. senators wrote a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo this week saying Saudi Arabia and Russia “have embarked upon economic warfare against the United States” and were threatening U.S. “energy dominance”.
2020, March, 30, 10:20:00
#OilPriceWar: OPEC+: THE NEW AGREEMENT
Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman and Russian counterpart Alexander Novak have not held any discussions about a joint agreement to balance oil markets, indicating no resolution to the price war.
2020, March, 30, 10:15:00
#OilPriceWar LOSSES $192 BLN
Oil exporters in the Middle East and North Africa region will lose $192 billion in crude income in 2020
2020, March, 27, 14:00:00
OIL PRICE: NEAR $26 AGAIN
Brent was down 40 cents, or 1.5%, at $25.94 a barrel, WTI was up 11 cents, or 0.5%, at $22.71.
2020, March, 27, 13:55:00
#OilPriceWar: RUSSIA UNCHANGED
Russia ramped up measures to combat the virus on Wednesday, with Russian President Vladimir Putin announcing that next week would be a paid non-working week throughout the country.
2020, March, 26, 11:35:00
#OilPriceWar: CHINA WINS
China is saving about $250mn a day after crude prices crashed this year amid dual demand and supply shocks.
