Today we saw a steadying of the price of crude oil thanks to a new development - the expectation that Saudi Arabia, together with other OPEC member states and Russia (not in OPEC) will continue and be even more serious about their production cut efforts.
To allow oil prices to increase by battling oil oversupply on the market, OPEC has been reducing its oil extraction operations for over a year now, to visible results. Russia, even though not a member of OPEC, has also participated in this, as it is a notable oil-rich country as well.
Countering their efforts are the United States, where shale oil production is more cost-effective and thrives even at lower prices, and Libya, who recently started pumping oil again.
Additionally, prices have lowered a bit over the past week due to traders closing their positions to take profit.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke this week about the possibility to extend OPEC’s agreement to reduce oil production until the end of next year, instead of March 2018, as initially planned. Russia is also trying to recruit other non-OPEC oil exporting countries to join the effort.
