Oil prices hit one-year high on Monday, as Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country would join the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in implementing an output freeze.
Speaking at the World Energy Congress in Istanbul, Putin signaled that his country, which is one of the top three producers of oil, may even agree to a production cut to drive market stability.
Brent Crude, the international benchmark for oil, was trading at $53.55 in London on Monday, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was going for $51.45 per barrel.
“Russia is ready to join the joint measures to cap production and is calling for other oil exporters to join. We support the recent initiative of OPEC to fix oil production limits,” Putin said.
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“We hope that at the OPEC meeting in November, the idea will be embodied in an official agreement, giving a positive signal to the markets and investors.
“The demand for traditional energy supported not only the motorization and electrification of such huge countries and economies as China and India, but also by the continuing participation of oil and gas products in the most diverse areas of human life, in industrial processes.”
OPEC concluded at its 170th ordinary meeting in Algiers, that the oil cartel was going to peg output between 32.50 million barrels per day (bpd) to 33.0 million bpd.
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The deal will see OPEC drop 600,000 barrels of its current market share of 33.6 million bpd.
Sanusi Barkindo, OPEC secretary-general, who spoke on the sidelines of the World Bank/IMF meetings in Washington, had earlier said he was optimistic that the prices would go up after the congress in Istanbul.
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