Russia is ready to participate in an oil pact deal to reduce its share of oil output to stabilize prices, Russian Interfax news agency said on Wednesday citing an official source from the country's energy ministry.
The move came a day before the teleconference between oil-producing member countries of OPEC+ to discuss the low price environment and the supply-demand balance in the global oil market.
The source said Russia may reduce production by about 1.6 million barrels, or 14%, from the level of the first quarter when the country mined 11.3 million barrels per day (bpd), according to data of the Central Dispatching Department of Fuel Energy Complex (CDU TEK).
The deal may include the United States, Mexico, Norway, Canada and others with a total production of 70 million barrels per day, the source said.
Due to the rapid spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), weak economic activity around the world has lowered global oil demand, increasing the glut of supply in the market.
Saudi Arabia-led OPEC and Russia-spearheaded non-OPEC failed on March 6 to lower their collective output, causing a massive plummet in prices, which fell on March 30 to their lowest level since 2002.
On Thursday at the teleconference, the OPEC+ group is expected to agree to lower their collective oil production level by between 10-15 million barrels per day to trim some of the oversupply.
By Sibel Morrow
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr