MOSCOW, April 3. /TASS/. One of the reasons why several OPEC+ countries declared voluntary cuts in oil production is that some countries intervened in market mechanisms, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview with Rossiya 24 TV channel following an OPEC+ Monitoring Committee meeting.
Novak said that at today's OPEC+ Ministerial Monitoring Meeting, the comments of some alliance countries on voluntary production cuts since May were taken into account and approved as "very important and necessary" to stabilize the oil market. According to him, the energy market is currently fraught with uncertainty due to volatile prices, supply and demand, a drop in industry investment and a banking crisis in Europe and the United States.
"The energy policies that many countries are pursuing today and the interference in market mechanisms are also some of the reasons why the oil exporting countries that are members of OPEC+ have voluntarily agreed on additional production cuts," he said, adding that the main goal was to create a more predictable and stable oil market situation.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier that Russia was in constant contact with OPEC+ countries. "Russia is in constant contact with a number of OPEC+ countries, this is standard procedure. But that's all. In this case, countries have their own policy, their own interest in stabilizing the market," he told reporters.
A number of OPEC+ countries declared oil production cuts until the end of the year on April 2. Saudi Arabia has decided to reduce oil production by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) from May until the end of 2023, while the UAE will reduce production by 144,000 bpd, Iraq - by 211,000 bpd, Kuwait - by 128,000 bpd, Oman - by 40,000 bpd, Algeria - by 48,000 bpd, and Kazakhstan - by 78,000 bpd. In turn, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced that Russia would extend a voluntary reduction in oil output of 500,000 barrels per day from the average February level until the end of 2023.