MOSCOW, October 12. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin does not see any serious problems with the final agreement on freezing oil production by oil-exporting countries, he said on Wednesday at the VTB Capital forum.
"I do not see any problems in the way of the final agreement on freezing oil production at the current level," Putin said.
Putin said that freezing oil production at the current level is in the interests of the economy, the energy sector - not only Russian but also the global market. "In the grand scheme of things, we could review even some reduction, but it is generally not necessary. It OPEC countries agree between themselves on the level of freezing oil production, then we will join this decision," Putin said.
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.
On September 5, Russia and Saudi Arabia have agreed on measures - joint or in cooperation with other oil producers - with the aim of maintaining stability on the crude market and providing a sustainable level of long-term investment.
In the statement, the ministers recognized "the current challenges in the supply side of the global oil market, including major contraction of capital investments in oil extraction on a global scale, particularly in exploration, as well as mass deferrals of investment projects, which made the market, as a whole, more volatile and therefore unsustainable to both producers and consumers in the long term," as well as "an imperative to mitigate excessive volatility harmful to global economic stability and growth."
The agreement was a breakthrough after unsuccessful negotiations of oil exporters on freezing oil production in Doha in April 2016, where Russia also participated.
At the time, the negotiations ended without any result due to Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries not being ready to accept Iran's position, which insisted on achieving the pre-sanctions level of oil production, before the country joins the agreement on freezing oil production volumes. At a meeting in Algiers, OPEC members agreed to take the position of Iran into account and make an exception for the country.