On the sidelines of the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation, currently ongoing in Beijing, China, Eng. Khaled bin Abdulaziz Al-Faleh, Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, held a meeting with Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak and discussed the progress made in bilateral cooperation between the two countries as stipulated in the joint declaration signed by the two sides on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hangzhou on September 5, 2016 and held consultations on the current situation of the global oil markets. The two sides expressed satisfaction over the level of bilateral technical cooperation between the two countries' energy sectors since the signing of the joint declaration. The ministers also discussed the current situation of the global oil market, affirming their satisfaction over the efforts being exerted by OPEC and non-OPEC oil producing countries, who signed the declaration of cooperation in Vienna, aiming to stabilize the global oil market, reduce its fluctuations, and ensure a balanced supply and demand in the near and long terms. The two ministers hailed the positive impact of the exerted joint efforts over the last few months on the fundamentals of the global oil market and the role of these efforts in guiding the market towards a more beneficial path for both producers and consumers. They pointed out to the acceleration of withdrawals from the commercial oil reserves of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries in April and May, in comparison with the usual seasonal rates, as well as the significant decrease, since the beginning of the year up to date, in the quantities of floating reserves of oil. The ministers also pointed out that these positive developments come against a backdrop of the recovery in the level of global oil demand, exceeding the oil production in countries outside the cartel's zone who take part in this voluntary effort. The Saudi and Russian ministers agreed that market stability and predictability are essential to ensure attraction of stable and sustainable investments in future and to support future oil supplies in order to meet growing global demand as well as compensation for decreases in some areas. The two ministers agreed to do whatsoever needed to achieve the main objective of stabilizing the market, reduce commercial oil reserves to an average level for five years, emphasize the oil producers' determination to ensure market stability, improve the quality of forecasting conditions and sustaining the growth. The two ministers stressed necessity of extending the joint voluntary actions among participating producers for a period of nine months until 31 March 2018. They expressed optimism that the other producing countries will realize the benefit of this cooperative effort and join the participating producers when they meet on 24 and 25, May, 2017. The two ministers voiced commitment to consult with their counterparts who are taking part in this effort and with other producers during the period until 24 May with the objective to reaching full consensus on forging an extended agreement for nine months.
