Moscow — Saudi Arabia's "brilliant move" to unilaterally reduce oil output additionally by 1 million b/d has been a great contribution to the stabilization of the global oil market, Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian sovereign wealth fund RDIF, said Jan. 27.
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Register NowStarting Feb. 1, Saudi Arabia is expected to severely lower its crude production to 8.119 million b/d instead of its OPEC+ quota of 9.119 million b/d. The pre-emptive cut was announced by energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman after the latest OPEC+ meeting on Jan. 4 in order to bring down oil inventories accumulated during the pandemic.
"The surprise cut that they have done recently is a really brilliant move that led to stabilization of the market joined by other OPEC members at the most critical time," Dmitriev, who has been leading Russia's diplomacy in Saudi Arabia alongside Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, said at the Saudi Future Investment Initiative conference.
His comments come ahead of the group's next meeting on Feb. 3, where compliance with be monitored by the OPEC+ advisory committee.
Russia's own compliance with production quotas remains far from perfect, as the country seeks to gradually regain its market share.
Nevertheless, Dmitriev reiterated Russia's commitment to the OPEC+ agreement and applauded Saudi Arabia's leadership "in doing great things to producers and consumers."
"This partnership is an example of how we can also unite our efforts to address other issues that the world is facing. Energy is definitely something that we have done really well together," Dmitriev added.
His speech echoed Russian President Vladimir Putin's earlier address at the Davos forum. Putin deemed energy cooperation with Saudi Arabia and the US on energy productive "despite different and sometimes even opposite views on other global issues."