As members of OPEC+, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russian President Vladimir Putin talked about extending their cooperation on oil prices on Wednesday, according to a Kremlin official.
According to a Saudi report on the meeting, the crown prince commended the two nations’ cooperative efforts “that helped remove tensions in the Middle East”.
Hours after the head of the Kremlin’s visit to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia’s Gulf neighbour, Putin held hurried talks with the crown prince, who is de facto the head of the world’s biggest oil exporter.
According to Russian news agencies, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, cooperation within OPEC+—which consists of Russia’s ally and the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)—will continue.
“We share many interests and many files that we are working on together for the benefit of Russia, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Middle East, and the world as well,” the crown prince was quoted by the Saudi Press Agency.
As members of OPEC+, whose members produce more than 40% of the world’s oil, Putin stated that Russia and the UAE collaborated and that they would talk about the Israeli-Hamas conflict and Ukraine.
The goal of MbS has been to reestablish Saudi Arabia as a regional force less reliant on the US, which provides Riyadh with the majority of its armaments.
As the lifeblood of their respective economies, MbS and Putin both depend on high oil prices. How much of the load each should bear to keep prices high is the question, as is how to track their contributions.
A meeting of OPEC+ was postponed by several days last month because of differences in production targets. According to the Saudi energy minister, Moscow was asked by OPEC+ to provide further guarantees that it would honour its commitment to cut fuel exports.
