Saudi, Russia agree on oil output cut

Top oil nations were finalising a deal at G20 talks on Friday for big output cuts to lift prices slammed by the coronavirus crisis with Russia and Saudi Arabia taking a lion’s share and signs the United States might take unprecedented moves to help.

Riyadh, Moscow and its allies, which make up the informal Opec+ group, had forged a pact to curb crude production by the equivalent of 10 per cent of global supplies in marathon talks on Thursday and said they wanted others to cut a further 5 per cent.

But efforts to conclude the Opec+ deal hit the buffers when Mexico refused to sign up in full.