Putin says oil at $70 per barrel ‘suits’ Russia

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Oil prices have shed a fifth of their value over the past month due to oversupply and signs of a softer-than-expected impact from sanctions on Iranian crude exports.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the price of oil at $70 per barrel “suits” Moscow, while promising to “cooperate” with Saudi Arabia’s call to cut output in an effort to bolster prices.

“The situation as it is now, at around $70 (per barrel), suits us completely,” Putin said at a summit in Singapore.

“As you know, we have a budget expenditure based on $40 (per barrel),” he added.

Oil prices have shed a fifth of their value over the past month due to oversupply and signs of a softer-than-expected impact from sanctions on Iranian crude exports.

The price of oil fell below $70 on Friday for the first time since the beginning of April and stood at around $66 at 1100 GMT on November 15.

This week Saudi Arabia’s energy minister called for a global output cut of one million barrels per day to re-balance the market, as Riyadh unveiled plans to cut production by 500,000 bpd from December.

“So far I cannot say if production should be limited — we have to be very careful, every word is significant here,” Putin said.

“But the fact that we need to cooperate (with the Saudis) is obvious,” he added.

US President Donald Trump has pressed OPEC to produce more oil to offset the impact of sanctions on Iran.

This week OPEC trimmed its global oil demand forecasts for this year and next.