President Trump said Thursday he spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who had earlier spoken with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, and that he hoped Saudi Arabia would cut oil production to boost prices.
“Just spoke to my friend MBS (Crown Prince) of Saudi Arabia, who spoke with President Putin of Russia, & I expect & hope that they will be cutting back approximately 10 Million Barrels, and maybe substantially more which, if it happens, will be GREAT for the oil & gas industry!” Trump tweeted.
“Could be as high as 15 Million Barrels. Good (GREAT) news for everyone!” he added in a second post.
The tweets came after the Saudi Arabian regime and Russia suggested Thursday they were ready to cooperate to help stabilize the oil market after calls with Trump to discuss the slump in prices triggered by the end of their deal to curb output.
After the deal collapsed, Russia and Saudi Arabia both said they were ready to raise production, but Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak also told Reuters on Thursday it had no plans to crank up its crude output.
A senior Gulf source familiar with Saudi thinking, meanwhile, told Reuters that Saudi Arabia supported cooperation between oil producers to stabilize the market but it was Russia’s opposition to a proposal last month to deepen oil supply cuts that caused the market turmoil.
Trump had earlier touted the drop in oil prices, comparing it to a tax break for Americans because they were paying less for gasoline because of the cut in production and less demand because of the coronavirus pandemic.
US oil futures soared by about 25 percent on the news.
With Post wires