Moscow accuses “Arab partners” of causing the collapse of oil prices

Oil prices collapsed as a result of actions by Arab countries, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov.

“Russia never intended to bring down oil prices, it is the exclusive initiative of our Arab partners,” he told Rossiya 1.

Beloúsov reiterated that during the negotiations of the countries that are members of the OPEC + pact, Russia sought to preserve the agreement “for at least a quarter, with the possible extension for a year.”

“The Arab partners acted differently,” he found.

On March 6, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and ten independent producers, including Russia, ended the oil cuts as of April 1 by failing to agree on an extension of the initiative that had been in place since early from 2017.

While OPEC sought further oil reduction to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, Russia and other independent producers advocated keeping the previously agreed cuts unchanged.

According to some media, Saudi Arabia seeks to expel Russian oil from major markets by offering yours at a lower price. At the same time, the kingdom announced an increase in oil exports since April by 12.3 million barrels per day from its reserves, which is 300,000 barrels per day more than its production capacity.

The OPEC + pact remains in force until March 31, but due to the reduction in oil demand, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic which has caused more than 307,000 infections to date, the price of Brent brand crude fell in a month from 59.3 dollars per barrel registered on February 20 to 27.3 dollars per barrel registered on March 20.