OPEC and Russia Are Said to Agree to Cut Oil Production

The meeting was called by Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s de facto leader, after President Trump spoke to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s main policymaker.

Mr. Trump said Thursday afternoon that he thought the oil cartel would soon reach a deal, noting that he had just spoken to President Vladimir Putin of Russia and King Salman of Saudi Arabia. He said it was in the interest of all oil-producing countries, including the United States, to rein in production.

“The numbers are so low that there will be layoffs all over the world,” Mr. Trump said at a White House news conference, in an apparent reference to oil prices. “There will be certainly layoffs in this country, and we don’t want that to happen.”

The Saudis have been engaged in a price war with Russia after Moscow refused to go along with a Saudi proposal in early March to trim output to address a sharp drop in demand because of the coronavirus pandemic. The spat threatens to swamp oil markets, including those in the United States, with excessive supplies of crude.

OPEC’s secretary general, Mohammad Barkindo, acknowledged in his introductory remarks that the glut of oil had put his organization in a weak position. The Saudis, for instance, have loaded huge volumes of crude onto tankers but are said to be having trouble finding buyers for all the oil.

“Our industry is hemorrhaging; no one has been able to stem the bleeding,” he said, according to text of his remarks posted on the OPEC website. “It is imperative we take urgent action.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/business/energy-environment/opec-saudiarabia-russia-oil-coronavirus.html