Oil news. The ball is now in Trump's court.
Putin Responds To Trump Oil Gambit: 10MM Production Cut "Possible" But US Needs To Join
The Russian president said that he had spoken with US President Trump saying "we are all worried about the situation" and that he is "ready to act with the US on oil markets" with 10mmb/d in oil production needed to be cut, adding that cuts must be taken from Q1 2020 levels which was a jab at Saudi Arabia which is hoping to "cut" by 3 million b/d to go back to where it was in February. And by we, he meant the "we" that includes the US, because as he explained "joint actions" are required on oil markets, i.e., shale too.
Observing that the situation on global energy markets remains difficult and that demand is falling (by 26mmb/d according to Goldman), Putin said that he wants "long-term stability" of the oil market, and that he is comfortable with $42 oil.
At this point Russia's energy minister Novak chimed in and explained what it would take to get such a cut: speaking to Putin, the Russian energy minister said it is necessary to cut oil production for everybody, including Saudi Arabia and the US, and that output should be cut for the next few months and gradually recovered thereafter.
Novak also said that Saudis are still negatively influencing oil market, and that oil storage could be filled for next 1.5 to 2 months only.
Finally, there was some speculation that Russia would not be present at next week's R-OPEC conference, so Novak defused any confusion, by confirming that the meeting is set for April 6th.