Donald Trump congratulates Vladimir Putin and Mohammad Bin Salman for reaching a deal
Donald Trump touted Sunday that a historic deal had been reached to stop the oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia – and he thanked Vladimir Putin and Mohammad Bin Salman for working toward the agreement.
‘The big Oil Deal with OPEC Plus is done,’ Trump posted to Twitter Easter Sunday. ‘This will save hundreds of thousands of energy jobs in the United States.’
‘I would like to thank and congratulate President Putin of Russia and King Salman of Saudi Arabia. I just spoke to them from the Oval Office. Great deal for all!’ the president praised.
Measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus have destroyed demand for fuel and driven down oil prices, straining budgets of oil producers and hammering the U.S. shale industry, which is more vulnerable to low prices due to its higher costs.
The OPEC+ said it had agreed to reduce output by 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) for May-June, after four days of marathon talks and following pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to arrest the price decline.
In the biggest oil output cut ever – exceeding four times the cuts approves during the 2008 financial crisis – the countries will keep gradually decreasing curbs on production in place for two years until April 2022.
The Kremlin also announced on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Trump and Saudi Arabian King Salman all support the OPEC+ deal to cut global crude output.
Putin and Trump, in a separate phone call, have also discussed strategic security issues, according to the Kremlin.
OPEC, Russia and other oil producing nations agreed on Sunday to cut output by a record amount, representing around 10% of global supply, to support oil prices amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an intergovernmental organization consisting of more than a dozen nations that make up an estimated 44 per cent of the global oil production.
Source: Daily Mail
