Russia Withholds Opinion on OPEC+ Agreement, Waiting for G20 - Bloomberg

Russia Withholds Opinion on OPEC+ Agreement, Waiting for G20 - Bloomberg:

Russia is sticking to its wait-and-see approach on the future of the OPEC+ deal, while its neighbors Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan favor an extension of oil-production cuts due to expire this month.

“We need to wait until the G-20 leaders’ meeting” in Japan this week, Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters in St. Petersburg. “We’ll see what will be discussed there, how the economic situation will develop.” The Energy Ministry is still holding talks with Russian oil companies on OPEC+ pact options, according to Novak.

Just a week remains before the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners will meet in Vienna to decide whether to prolong the deal. While Saudi Arabia has said a rollover “is almost in the bag for OPEC,” with some adjustments possible for non-OPEC countries, Russia, one of the architects of the current deal, has been holding back amid differing views from its biggest oil companies over the benefits of cooperation.