OPEC + reaches agreement
Oil production quotas were increased as expected at a recent meeting between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and some oil producing countries including Russia. The two-day meeting was held on Friday and Saturday in Vienna.
The quotas are to be increased by 1 million barrels per day according to the agreement, while Russia is expected to increase its production by 200 thousand barrels a day. The deal is expected to have a positive effect on Russian markets as oil exports continue to be its main source of revenue.
Gazprom's assets frozen in UK
Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz announced last week that the assets of Russia's Gazprom in England and Wales were frozen by the Commercial Court in London, in line with a ruling of the Stockholm International Court of Arbitration, which recently concluded the case between Gazprom and Naftogaz in favor of the latter, ordering Gazprom to pay $2.56 billion in compensation for failing to fulfill its obligations on natural gas deliveries to Ukraine.
According to the press release of Naftogaz, Gazprom will also present to the London court a list of its assets that are worth more than $50,000 in England and Wales. The company may be subject to criminal penalties if it fails to enforce the court order.
Russia to retaliate against US customs tariffs
Russia's Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin said last week that Moscow would introduce restrictions on American products following a U.S. decision to apply customs tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.
U.S. has announced a 25 percent customs tariff on steel, and 10 percent on aluminum imported from a number of countries including Russia.
Oreshkin said Russia would use its rights as a World Trade Organization member as long as the U.S. continued to take protective measures through additional customs tariffs and did not compensate Russia's losses.
"We will take restrictive measures for products imported from the U.S. that are available also in Russia. Such measures will not have a negative impact on Russia's macroeconomic structure,” the minister said.
Russia had informed the WTO last month that additional tariffs could be imposed on U.S. products worth about $550 million as retaliation.