US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he had brokered a deal with top crude producers Russia and Saudi Arabia to cut output and arrest an oil price rout amid the global coronavirus pandemic, though details of how cuts would work were unclear.
Trump said the two nations could cut output by 10 to 15 million barrels per day (bpd) – an unprecedented amount representing 10 per cent to 15 per cent of global supply, and one that would require the participation of nations outside of OPEC and its allies.
A senior US administration official familiar with the matter said Trump would not formally ask US oil companies to contribute to the production cuts, a move forbidden by US antitrust legislation. Russia and Saudi Arabia have been at odds since early March, when they failed to agree on a deal curbing output as the coronavirus spread around the globe.
