Saudi Arabia, Russia to Set Up $1 Billion Energy Fund- Novak

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak speaks during a news conference of the 4th OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee in St. Petersburg, Russia, July 24, 2017. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak speaks during a news conference of the 4th OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee in St. Petersburg, Russia, July 24, 2017. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov
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Saudi Arabia, Russia to Set Up $1 Billion Energy Fund- Novak

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak speaks during a news conference of the 4th OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee in St. Petersburg, Russia, July 24, 2017. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak speaks during a news conference of the 4th OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee in St. Petersburg, Russia, July 24, 2017. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that Saudi Arabia and Russia will establish a new energy investment fund worth USD1 billion, noting that final touches would be put during the visit of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz to Moscow this week.

This step falls under both parties’ efforts to increase cooperation, given that they are among the biggest oil producers. “In principle, the talk revolves around earmarking $1bn just for energy projects and I as an energy minister am pleased by this because we are focusing on developing our cooperation not just within the framework of OPEC or even outside OPEC, but also developing cooperation in the fields of oil, gas, power and renewable energy,” Novak told the Dubai-based Al Arabiya news channel on Monday.

Russia and Saudi Arabia are leading efforts to trim global oil production by 1.8 million barrels of oil per day through a six-month agreement that ended in June and which was extended to the end of next March to help prop up oil prices and reduce the glut in the market.

Novak also said a number of Russian companies are exploring various aspects of cooperation with Saudi Arabia.

Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russian gas giant Gazprom, and other companies are expected to sign agreements with their Saudi counterparts, he added.

Russian energy companies are also exploring the possibility of working with Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil producer, in the oil services field in the kingdom. Russian companies and in particular Rosneft, the country’s biggest oil producer, are also interested in oil trading cooperation.



Oil Dips as Economic Concerns, Supply and Demand Expectations Weigh

A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo
A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo
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Oil Dips as Economic Concerns, Supply and Demand Expectations Weigh

A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo
A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, US April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo

Oil prices slipped on Thursday after surging in the previous session on a larger-than-expected draw in US gasoline stocks, as markets weighed macroeconomic concerns and demand versus supply expectations. Brent futures were down 30 cents to $70.65 a barrel at 1140 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 31 cents to $67.37 a barrel.

Both benchmarks rallied about 2% on Wednesday after US government data showed tighter-than-expected oil and fuel inventories.

US gasoline inventories fell by 5.7 million barrels, more than the 1.9 million-barrel draw expected by analysts, while distillate stocks also dropped more than anticipated, despite gains in crude stocks, Reuters reported.

"Declining US gasoline inventories raised expectations for a seasonal demand increase in spring, but concerns about the global economic impact of tariff wars weighed on the market," said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, chief strategist at Nissan Securities Investment.

"With strong and weak factors progressing simultaneously, it has become difficult for the market to lean decisively in one direction or the other," he added. US President Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to escalate a global trade war with further tariffs on European Union goods, as major US trading partners said they would retaliate for trade barriers already erected by the US president.

Trump's focus on tariffs has rattled investors, consumers and business confidence, and raised US recession fears. With the US president's stated commitment to cheaper oil, Citi analysts said their outlook for Brent by the second half of 2025 is $60 a barrel.

Global oil supply could

exceed demand

by around 600,000 barrels per day this year, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday, revising down its 2025 demand growth forecast. Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said on Wednesday that Kazakhstan led a sizeable jump in February crude output by the wider OPEC+, highlighting a challenge for the producer group in enforcing adherence to agreed output targets, even as it intends to unwind production cuts.

Worries about flagging jet fuel demand weighed further on markets, with JP Morgan analysts saying that US Transportation Security Administration data showed "passenger volumes for March have decreased by 5% year-over-year, following stagnant traffic in February".

However, recent firm global demand numbers limited overall market weakness.

"As of March 11, global oil demand averaged 102.2 million barrels per day, expanding 1.7 million barrels per day year-over-year and exceeding our projected increase for the month by 60,000 barrels per day," the JP Morgan analysts added.