Inside Story

Is the oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia ending?

US President Donald Trump intervenes, suggests both sides may agree to cut production by 10 to 15 million barrels a day.

Over the past month, two of the world’s biggest oil producers have been in dispute about how to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

Demand collapsed after airlines grounded their planes, factories shut their doors and countries imposed travel bans.

Crude prices fell further when Saudi Arabia and Russia could not agree on cutting supplies to try and force prices higher.

United States President Donald Trump now suggests both sides may agree to cut production by 10 to 15 million barrels a day.

Saudi Arabia has called for an emergency meeting of oil-producing nations.

Will Trump’s intervention be enough to end the feud? And what’s the impact of the rift? 

Presenter: Bernard Smith

Guests:

Mikhail Krutikhin – Partner at the consulting agency RusEnergy

Alex Schindelar – President of Energy Intelligence, an industry analysis company

Jeff Colgan – Professor of Political Science at Brown University and author of the book Petro-Aggression: When Oil Causes War