Saudi Arabia Wants Russia Help Managing Oil Prices

Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s largest oil producers, has called for coordination with Russia to react to the consequences of fluctuations in oil prices on the world market.

http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/0/28.html?id_issue=10707450
09-30 07:25: Saudi Arabia Wants Russia Help Managing Oil Prices-Agency

MOSCOW -(Dow Jones)- Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer, has
asked Russia for help coordinating its management of the world oil market, the
news agency Interfax reported Thursday, citing a senior Russian diplomat.
Russian ambassador to Riyadh, Andrei Baklanov, said that “given the
current extraordinary situation on the fuel market, Saudi economists and oil
industry experts are more frequently noting the expedience of expanding
cooperation with their Russian colleagues to find the optimal line in the
sphere of price formation for oil.”
He said Saudi experts propose using a newly set up international
organization – the permanent secretariat of the International Energy Forum,
headquartered in Riyadh – as one of the instruments to harmonize oil prices.
The IEF is supposed to be a forum for joint policy coordination between
major oil exporters and importers.
Outlining the current situation on the oil market, Baklanov said that
“factors that cannot be called objective are currently largely influencing the
formation of oil prices.”
The ambassador also said that “the possibility remains of the oil market
overheating, which will be followed by a sharp drop in price.”
“Given this, it is important to develop a range of measures to regulate
the situation on the market,” Baklanov said.
He said that cooperation between specialists and experts in the two
leading oil producers – Russia and Saudi Arabia – could play an important role.
The ambassador said that one possible area of Russian-Saudi cooperation
could be ensuring safety in the oil and gas complex and for supplies of fuel.
“A broad interpretation of this problem is to ensure continuous
production, transportation and marketing of fuel,” the ambassador said.
A more narroterpretation would be to establish steps to set up a
reliable system to protect specific oil and gas infrastructure, he said.
He said that the combined efforts of specialists from a number of
countries could prevent threats in this sphere that might destabilize oil
markets.
Agency Web site: http://www.interfax.ru
-By Geoffrey T. Smith, Dow Jones Newswires (+7 095) 974 8055;
[email protected]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

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