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After yesterday’s market action which saw the price of crude oil on international markets collapse and Russian stock exchanges follow suit, the Kremlin may now be willing to ‘talk’ again with OPEC regarding production cuts that are scheduled to expire at the end of March.
The Russian stock market plunged 10% on opening Tuesday morning, following the rout on global financial markets Monday. Russia’s oil companies were hit hardest, with giants Rosneft and Lukoil leading the loserboard with falls of more than 10%, reported The Moscow Times.
“Now we see how the situation is developing [after the negotiations in Vienna], we see relative volatility in the markets, which, will, most likely, continue for some time,” the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, reported Russian state news agency TASS.
At the same time, he stressed: “A variety of options were calculated and considered in advance.”
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that Moscow had not ruled out measures with OPEC to stabilize oil markets, according to Interfax news agency, reported CNBC.
Russia’s energy ministry has proposed to hold a meeting with Russian oil companies on Wednesday, Reuters reported, citing two unnamed sources.
Just a whiff of the possibility of such talks could send oil markets higher as the reason for yesterdays’ price drop was the specter of OPEC, Russia and the US flooding the world with crude, in a time of oversupply, which sent oil markets to the downside.
