Russia kills the OPEC+ deal, refuses to reduce production
Members of OPEC were not able to reach an agreement to collectively reduce production due to Russia’s refusal. The previous agreement to reduce production will expire by the end of March.
Due to the drop in the demand of the world’s oil markets as a result of coronavirus pandemic, members of OPEC were planning on reducing oil production once again collectively by 1.5 million barrels a day.
In the joint statement released by members of OPEC and non-members, there is no mention of reduced production.
With this announcement, the price of oil dropped by 10 percent and created concerns about the repeat of the heavy drop in the price of oil in 2014.
OPEC sources told Reuters that Saudi Arabia and Russia, the two largest oil producers inside and outside of OPEC, were not able to reach an agreement despite several rounds of negotiations.
The current agreement will end by the end of the month and after that members and non-members can produce as much oil as they please.
According to the current agreement, the members of OPEC and non-members, referred to as OPEC+, have agreed to reduce their oil production collectively by 2.1 million barrels a day.