ISTANBUL, October 11. /TASS/. Energy Ministers of Russia and Saudi Arabia met in Istambul to discuss joint action plan to optimize oil production and cooperation between the two countries, Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak told TASS on the sidelines of the World Energy Congress.

"We discussed the situation on world markets, joint action plan regarding the statements that have been made in Algeria and also our cooperation in the electrical power industry between Saudi Arabia and Russia," he said.

Russia and Saudi Arabia have flexible positions for discussing various options to stabilize the global crude market, Novak said.

"Both Russia and Saudi Arabia are flexible enough for discussing various options," he said when asked whether Saudi Arabia will be insisting on reduction rather than stabilization of crude production.

Russia’s oil output has been on the rise for several years already. In 2015, oil producers reported daily output of 10.726 mln barrels of oil and gas condensate while the total crude production for the whole year exceeded 534 mln tonnes, a 1.4% increase compared with 2014.

According to the state statistics service Rosstat, in June 2016 Russia produced 10.136 mln barrels of oil per day.

On September 21, Russia has set a new record on daily oil production in the country as it breached the 11 mln barrels mark on September 8, according to Deputy Energy Minister Kirill Molodtsov.

"The Russian Federation reached the historic high in September, on September 8, as our daily production exceeded 11 mln barrels," he said, adding that as of Tuesday, September 20, crude production in Russia "amounted to 11.75 mln barrels."

On September 28, OPEC member-nations reached an agreement to limit the average daily oil production by 32.5 mln barrels. The Organization will discuss production limits of each member-nation at the next meeting in November.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier Russia was ready to join the decision on freeze or reduction of crude production, which is important for keeping stability on the oil market. "In the current situation we consider the freeze or even reduction of crude production to be probably the only correct decision to keep the sustainability of the whole global energy (market)," Putin said, adding that the move will help the market to regain equilibrium.