Saudi Arabia and Russia ended their oil price war on Sunday by finalising a global supply deal to make the biggest production cuts in history, following pressure from US President Donald Trump to support an energy sector ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic.
The final agreement by the Opec+ group came after drawn out talks, which at one stage had threatened to unravel despite the backing of the US and G20 energy ministers, after Mexico — a relatively small oil producer — angered Saudi Arabia by seeking an exemption from the deal.
But after four days of US pressure and negotiations, the cartel and its allies overcame a final hurdle, when Mexico was awarded a concession to cut by a smaller margin than its Opec+ peers. This resulted in the overall curbs amounting to 9.7m b/d between Opec and its allies, including Russia, slightly less than the 10m b/d initially pledged, or roughly 10 per cent of pre-crisis demand.