A ‘sustainable’ price for oil is best for global economy: Saudi Energy minister

Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman on Monday said a “sustainable” price for oil is best because it enhances the global economy and helps countries prepare their budgets.

“Prices have to be stable, sustainable… and to enter these long period volatilities does not enhance investment,” he said at the Saudi-Russian CEO Forum in Riyadh.

The forum comes during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the Kingdom, his first official trip to Riyadh in 12 years.

The minister’s comments come amid speculation about further OPEC output cuts, as trade tensions and expectations of lower demand have dragged down oil prices by more than 30 percent since it a high of $88 a barrel last year.

Market fears were confirmed when OPEC forecast a slight fall in 2019 world oil demand, citing an economic slowdown in some of the consumer nations.

In an earlier interview with Al Arabiya, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that global crude oil reserves needed to be cut to some “sensible level” so that prices are not affected.

Last December, OPEC and its OPEC+ allies agreed to cut output by 1.2 million barrels per day.

OPEC leader Saudi Arabia and non-member Russia extended the cuts in June as oil prices came under pressure from high crude inventory levels.

Prince Abdulaziz also said on Monday that Saudi Arabia was closely communicating with OPEC stakeholders and added that members’ commitment to output cuts was also being monitored.