ANKARA, April 3. /TASS/. Russia and OPEC may assume joint efforts on balancing the oil market after completion of the crude production cut deal (OPEC+), Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Tuesday.
"We are currently considering the format of long-term relations, which would potentially include market monitoring, information exchange and implementation of some joint measures as was the case in end-2016 if necessary," he said.
According to Novak, OPEC+ countries are currently developing a mechanism for long-term cooperation to be used after completion of the deal.
The issue has been discussed with Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Khalid Al-Falih, he added.
"There are various cooperation formats, ranging from periodic meetings of OPEC and non-OPEC countries to other formats, probably, of an organization that could cooperate with OPEC and non-OPEC states," he said.
Novak stressed that Moscow has no plans to join the oil cartel.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said earlier that Riyadh plans to agree a long-term deal with Moscow and OPEC countries in the area of oil production and export within 10-20 years.
In late 2016, OPEC member-states and 11 independent oil-exporting countries, including Russia, entered into an agreement to reduce oil production. According to that agreement, during the first half of 2017 the participants were to withdraw 1.8 million barrels per day from the oil market in comparison with the level of October 2016. In May 2017, at the meeting in Vienna, the countries extended the agreement until April 2018, maintaining the previous quotas for all participants. The purpose of the agreement is to reduce global oil reserves to the average level of the last five years.