RF Ministry of Energy hopes that Qatar situation will be settled, as the oil market and international cooperation need the stable situation in the Persian Gulf region, RF Minister of Energy Alexander Novak told CNBC channel, RIA News reports.
“We consider that this conflict should be politically settled, and, of course, we hope that this conflict in the Middle East will be settled, because the stable and settled situation is really required for the market and further cooperation from the Persian Gulf”, Novak said.
On June 5, Saudi Arabia, Bahrein, UAE and Egypt announced about the rupture of diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorist organizations and destabilization of situation in the Middle East. Arabian monarchies halted any communication with Qatar. As the result, some other countries announced about the rupture of relations with Qatar. Doha claimed that it will not take retaliatory measures.
Many oil market players fear that the Qatar situation can affect the oil production cut agreement between OPEC countries and other states. In the meantime, Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia KhalidA. Al-Falih told that the situation will not anyhow affect agreements between oil producing countries.
In late 2016, in Vienna OPEC and some non-OPEC countries agreed to cut oil production by 1.8 million barrels per 24 hours from October level, out of which 300 thousand account for Russia. The agreement was concluded for the first half year 2017 with the possibility for prolongation. In May, it was prolonged for nine months – until March 2018.