MOSCOW, March 10. /TASS/. Moscow was considering different options of developing the situation on the markets before the OPEC+ negotiations in Vienna, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"Now we see how the situation is developing [after the negotiations in Vienna], we see relative volatility in the markets, which, most likely, will continue for some time," the Kremlin spokesman said.
At the same time, he stressed: "A variety of options were calculated and considered in advance."
Peskov recalled that on March 1, President Vladimir Putin held a special meeting before the OPEC+ ministerial meeting in Vienna.
"That meeting was held behind closed doors," after the head of state’s speech "there was a closed discussion," the Kremlin official said.
"Indeed, amid the situation on international oil market and in anticipation of the discussion of this issue in Vienna, various scenarios were considered, indeed, different scenarios and different positions were voiced among representatives of the oil sector and among the relevant heads of departments," Peskov noted.
The Kremlin representative did not answer the question about the role of the head of state-run oil company Rosneft Igor Sechin in shaping the position of Russia for the meeting in Vienna. "Different participants in the meetings over the years voiced different positions, this is absolutely normal, absolutely normal process," he said.
Situation on the markets
On March 9, the ruble fell sharply against the US and European currencies amid a severe collapse in oil prices after the failure of negotiations on reduction of oil production in Vienna.
The dollar-to-ruble rate on the international Forex market exceeded 75 rubles. The euro-to-ruble rate rose above 85 rubles. Last time, both foreign currencies were at this level in 2016.
At the height of the trading on the ICE Exchange in London, the cost of futures for Brent crude oil with settlement in May 2020 fell to $31.02 per barrel. Later Brent crude price began to win back positions. The cost of the April WTI oil futures fell to $27.59 per barrel. Later WTI also recouped the losses a bit.
Oil prices fell amid the news that OPEC+ countries had failed to agree on an additional reduction in oil production following lower demand due to the outbreak of coronavirus. OPEC proposed to further reduce production by 1.5 mln barrels per day until the end of this year. However, Russia and Kazakhstan opposed this proposal.