Saudi Arabia and Russia said on the sidelines of the G20 summit in China that they signed an agreement to set up a task force to review oil market fundamentals and to recommend measures and actions that will secure market stability. But there were no details in the announcement on any elusive agreement to freeze oil output, just weeks before Moscow and OPEC meet in Algeria to discuss the crisis. Saudi deputy crown prince told Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the same summit that cooperation between the two countries would bring benefit to the global oil market. Iran, OPEC’s third largest producer, has said it would only cooperate in talks to freeze output if fellow exporters recognized its right to fully regain market share. “Even if successful, an OPEC freeze would likely be a short-term positive but a medium-term negative for oil prices,” Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a note.

Source: Dhaka Tribune September 05, 2016 18:22 UTC