Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Russian President Vladimir Putin have commended the close cooperation between them and the successful efforts of the OPEC+ countries in enhancing the stability of global oil markets.
A joint statement said Thursday that they stressed the importance of continuing this cooperation, and the need for all participating countries to adhere to the OPEC+ agreement, in a way that serves the interests of producers and consumers and supports the growth of the global economy.
Following last week's OPEC+ meeting, Saudi Arabia agreed to extend voluntary oil output cuts of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) into the first quarter, while Russia said it would continue to curb oil exports by 300,000 bpd and additionally reduce its fuel exports by 200,000 bpd in January-March.
The total curbs amount to 2.2 million bpd from eight producers, OPEC said in a statement after the meeting last week.
The Crown Prince and Putin met at Al-Yamamah palace in Riyadh on Wednesday.
They praised the increase in the volume of trade between the two countries, as the volume of bilateral trade in the year 2022 increased at a rate of 46% compared to the year 2021.
They affirmed their intention to continue the joint work to enhance and diversify trade between them, and to intensify communication between the private sectors in the two countries to discuss promising trade and investment opportunities and transform them into active partnerships.
The two sides also stressed their keenness to continue working to enhance mutual and joint investments in the two countries, enable the private sector, exchange visits, hold joint investment forums and events, develop the investment-attractive environment, provide the necessary enablers, and solve any challenges in this field.
The joint statement said that Putin welcomed the Kingdom’s launch of the “Saudi Green Initiative” and the “Middle East Green initiative” and affirmed Russia's support for the Kingdom’s efforts in the field of climate change by implementing the circular carbon economy approach launched by the Kingdom and approved by the leaders of the G20 countries.
The two sides stressed the importance of adhering to the principles of the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, and the necessity of developing and implementing climate agreements by focusing on emissions rather than sources.
They also expressed their desire to maximize the use of local content in energy sector projects, cooperate to stimulate innovation, apply emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence in the energy sector, and develop its ecosystem.
