In late April, Russia was left standing at the alter in Doha, as Saudi Arabia walked away from a production freeze deal, leading the negotiations to collapse with no result. A few days later, top Russian oil executives met at the Third National Russian Oil and Gas Forum that convened in April 19-21 in Moscow, Russia. While discussing major factors influencing the oil market at the Forum, the speakers agreed the geopolitics have become an essential factor, although the condition of the world economy and market forces along with the technological advancement seemed to still be taking a lead in driving oil prices. “We must understand that the oil prices cannot change drastically because we are now reaching the projected output level that we set out to achieve with the investments that we historically made six, five, four years ago, and the production cannot be curtailed,” […]