MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia and OPEC have ‘a common goal’ of keeping the oil market balanced and predictable, and Moscow will continue cooperation under the global supply curbs deal.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Coun­tries (Opec) meets on Dec 5 in Vienna, followed by talks with a group of other exporters, including Russia, known as OPEC+.

“Our (common with Opec) goal is for the market to be balanced, acceptable for producers and consumers and the most important - and I want to underline this - predictable,” Putin told a forum on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman said on Wednesday that the kingdom’s oil policy aims to promote stability in global oil markets, and serves consumers and producers alike. It plans to announce pricing for an initial public offering of its crown asset, Saudi Aramco, also on Dec 5.

In October, Russia cut its oil output to 11.23 million barrels per day (bpd) from 11.25mbpd in September but it was still higher than a 11.17-11.18mbpd cap set for Moscow under the existing global deal.

Putin told the forum that Russia’s oil production was growing slightly despite the supply curbs deal but Moscow was not aiming to be the world’s no. 1 crude producer. Currently, the United States is the world’s top oil producer.

“Russia has a serious impact on the global energy market but the most impact we achieve (is) when working along with other key producers,” he said. “There was a moment not that long ago when Russia was the world’s top oil producer - this is not our goal.” Russia plans to produce between 556 million and 560 million tonnes of oil this year (11.17-11.25 million bpd), Energy Minister Alexander Novak said separately on Wednesday, depending on the volume of gas condensate produced during cold months.

Russia will aim to stick to its commitments under the deal in November, Novak told reporters.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2019