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Russia does not see need for urgent oil market measures due to new coronavirus variant

The next OPEC+ ministerial meeting is still scheduled for December 2, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said

MOSCOW, November 29. /TASS/. Russia currently does not see the need for urgent action on the oil market due to the emergence of a new coronavirus variant. OPEC+ partners also did not contact Russia on the need for urgent measures in the market, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on Monday.

"We do not see the need, we need to carefully monitor and watch [the situation]. There is no need for hasty decisions," he said.

"The emergence of new variants always leads to market reassessments, because various countries may use various restrictive measures. We need to watch how the situation will develop now, we must monitor it carefully. And how this will affect demand," he noted.

"But, despite this, we will additionally discuss the market situation and the need for measures with the OPEC+ countries. OPEC+ Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) was postponed in order to work on everything in detail, to get more information about current events, including on a new variant of the virus," he added.

The next OPEC+ ministerial meeting is still scheduled for December 2, Novak added.

Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated the Greek letter omicron to the new B.1.1.529 coronavirus variant found in southern Africa.