Saudi Arabia has signalled it will stand by Russia as a member of the Opec+ group of oil producers despite tightening western sanctions on Moscow and a potential EU ban on Russian oil imports.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the energy minister, told the Financial Times that Riyadh was hoping “to work out an agreement with Opec+ . . . which includes Russia”, insisting the “world should appreciate the value” of the alliance of producers.
A new production deal is on the agenda as Opec+ output quotas put in place in April 2020 are set to expire in three months while energy consumers grapple with oil prices at their highest levels in a decade.
Prince Abdulaziz’s comments are an important sign of support for Russia from a traditional US ally as the west tries to isolate the country and its oil production falls, raising questions about its place in the Opec+ group.
Riyadh has been resisting western pressure to raise crude output to help bring down prices in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, insisting there is not a lack of supply.
Prince Abdulaziz said it was too early to say what a new agreement might look like given the uncertainties in the market, but added that Opec+ would increase production “if the demand is there”.
“With the havoc you see now it’s too premature to try to pinpoint [an agreement],” Prince Abdulaziz said in an interview. “But what we know is what we have succeeded to deliver is sufficient for people to say so far there is a merit, there is a value of being there, working together.”
Opec+ has stuck to its 2020 agreement, under which the alliance members raise total production each month by the modest amount of 430,000 barrels a day.
But Russia’s output has dropped since the start of the Ukraine war, falling from about limn b/d in March to an average of some b/d in April, according to data provider OilX.
The International Energy Agency predicts it could fall further, declining by as much as 3mn b/d if western powers impose tougher sanctions to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian energy, including a possible EU ban on oil imports. India, however, has increased Russian oil imports since the war began.