Russia, the United States and Saudi Arabia could act jointly to stabilise oil markets if needed, Russia’s investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev told Reuters.
Oil prices surged on Thursday after Israel said it attacked Iranian nuclear sites in Natanz and Arak overnight and as investors grappled with fears of a broader conflict in the Middle East that could disrupt crude supplies.
Dmitriev, chief of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, said there was a precedent for similar joint action in 2020.
“There was an example when (Russian) President Putin, (U.S.) President Trump and (Saudi) Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman played a key role in stabilising markets,” Dmitriev said on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
“It is early to talk about concrete joint action yet but based on an earlier precedent, such action is possible.”
In the spring of 2020, as oil prices plummeted amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump brokered a deal with top crude producers Russia and Saudi Arabia to cut output and calm the markets.
“Events in the Middle East create conditions for oil price rises. The dynamics of these events will define how dramatic this rise will be,” Dmitriev said.
“The dynamics of such rises sharply reduce the possibility of further restrictions on Russia’s energy sector,” he said, referring to European Union deliberations on tightening sanctions against Moscow.
(Reporting by Gleb Bryanski; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)