10 Apr 2020 | 14:55 UTC — Moscow

Novak calls for creation of G20 committee to coordinate cooperation on stabilizing energy markets

Highlights

OPEC+ provisionally agrees to cut 10 mil b/d of global crude supply

Putin evaluates OPEC+ deal 'very positively'

Moscow — Russian energy minister Alexander Novak called Friday for the G20 to create a committee to monitor and coordinate cooperation on stabilizing global energy markets, during a speech at the opening of the G20 energy ministers meeting.

"It is necessary to establish an effective mechanism for monitoring and developing the necessary response measures,'' Novak said.

The G20 meeting comes after the OPEC+ group provisionally agreed to take 10 million b/d of global supply off the market.

Novak added that all interested countries should take part in the G20 committee, including those who take on obligations to balance the market as well as relevant international energy organizations.

"The proposed G20 committee is designed to ensure coordination of cooperation in order to increase the level of stability and security of the energy market," he said.

Novak said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that Russia is ready to play its part in cooperation with other partners to stabilize global energy markets.

Separately Friday, Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the president evaluates the latest crude production agreement "very positively," the Prime news agency reported.

"There are no losers, there are only those who benefit from this decision, including oil producers and consumers and the world economy overall, which would otherwise have plunged into chaos if this deal had broken down," Peskov said.

"As for what happened a month ago, it is obvious that a month ago no one in this world could have predicted the depth of the crisis that the global economy is currently in. No one could have forecast that energy demand would fall so low, which literally happened in a matter of days," he said.

At the beginning of March, the OPEC+ group failed to agree on crude production cuts. The removal of previous output quotas, coupled with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on demand, resulted in a collapse in oil prices.