Russia and Saudi Arabia have signed a joint statement aimed at stabilizing the crude market on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, TASS correspondent reports from the signing ceremony.
The document was signed by Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Saudi Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Falih.
The two countries will develop cooperation in the oil and gas sector to implement new technologies, and could create a joint database on advanced energy technologies.
Russia and Saudi Arabia will set up a working group to monitor the crude market and hammer out recommendations for providing its stability. According to the statement, the first working group meeting will be held in October. The energy ministers of the two countries will meet in October in Algeria, and in November in Vienna.
The Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia Khalid A. Al-Falih and the Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Alexander V. Novak met in Hangzhou, China on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.
In their meeting, the Ministers recognized the importance of maintaining their ongoing dialogue about current developments in oil and gas markets and indicated their mutual desire to further expand their bilateral relations in energy. This stems from the fact that the two countries currently shoulder the responsibility of producing more than 21-percent of global oil demand which is required to fuel global economic growth, improve standards of living and help achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
- The Ministers recognize the current challenges in the supply side of the global oil market, including major contraction of capital investments in oil extraction on a global scale, particularly in exploration, as well as mass deferrals of investment projects, which made the market, as a whole, more volatile and therefore unsustainable to both producers and consumers in the long term. There is an imperative to mitigate excessive volatility harmful to global economic stability and growth.
In this regard, the Ministers noted that constructive dialogue and close cooperation among major oil producing countries is crucial to oil market stability to ensure sustainable levels of investment for the long term. Therefore, the Ministers agreed to act jointly or with other producers. In addition, the Ministers agreed to continue consultations on market conditions by establishing a joint monitoring task force to continuously review the oil market fundamentals and recommend measures and joint actions aimed at securing oil market stability and predictability.
- The Ministers agreed to promote cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Russian Federation in the oil and gas industry, including deployment of new technologies, exchange of information and expertise to raise the level of technology applications in production, refining, storage, transport and distribution, as well as equipment production, support services such as engineering, manufacturing and research activities, along with collaboration in power generation and renewable energy.
- The Ministers committed to explore the possibility of creating a joint database on advanced energy technologies, along with feasibility assessments of their deployment, utilization, and financing through sovereign funds of both countries.
- The Ministers decided that the first meeting of the Saudi-Russia Working Group on oil and gas cooperation established according to Article 4 of the Cooperation Agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Russian Federation on oil and gas cooperation dated the 2nd of September 2003 and the Execution Program of the agreement dated the 18th of June 2015, shall be held during October 2016, to enhance the cooperation, and implementation of what has been agreed upon. Furthermore, the Ministers will meet again on the sidelines of the upcoming meetings of IEF in Algeria and OPEC’s November meeting in Vienna.
Strategic partnership in energy sector
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Nobak has pointed out that Moscow and Riyad were switching to strategic partnership in energy sector. Novak noted that the two countries' deep mutual trust enabled a joint response to global challenges.
According to the minister, Moscow is ready to join oil production freeze if such a decision is made. The official has stressed that freezing the oil production would have a positive impact on the oil market.
