-OPEC reaches agreement on oil output cuts
Global markets last week focused on the Vienna meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). A decision, which included some non-OPEC producer countries, was made to cut daily production by 1.2 million barrels per day starting in January and resulted in an upward push in oil prices.
Russia calculated that the loss in the Russian budget would be around $50 billion if oil production cuts were not agreed.
U.S. President Donald Trump stated his opposition to the reduction of oil supplies through messages he posted on Twitter prior to the meeting.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak responded and said negotiations between the OPEC and non-OPEC countries were carried out in line with the market conditions. “The talks are not directed by political statements via Twitter,” he said.
-Putin and Lukashenko haggle over gas prices on live TV
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko bargained over the price of Belarus gas imports to Russia on live television.
Lukashenko argued that the calculations for the cost of Belarus gas imports were incorrect during a live broadcast of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) meeting held in St. Petersburg on Thursday.
Noting that Belarus pays around $130 per thousand cubic meters of Russian gas, Lukashenko said, "The price of natural gas in the Smolensk region of Russia, located right next to us is $70 per thousand cubic meters.”
In turn, Putin retaliated by pointing out that Germany pays $250 for the same amount of Russian gas.
"Belarus is currently paying $129, next year it will pay $127. The EEU [Eurasian Economic Union] is an important advantage for our allies. If Belarus had not had this advantage, the price of gas would have been $200 per thousand cubic meters," Putin said.
Lukashenko in defense explained that the living conditions in Belarus are worse than in Germany.
"We fought together against Germany and the situation of our people who did not die in battle did not improve very much. They're [Germany] paying around $250 because the natural gas is traveling an additional 3 thousand kilometers," he said.
Putin replied that Belarus would pay $200 if the rules of the natural gas market were applied and suggested that they consult on this issue behind closed doors.