President Donald Trump said on Monday, April 5, that OPEC had not pressed him to ask US oil producers to reduce their output to support global prices, which have been hard-hit by the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump said US oil production had already fallen, anyway. “I think it’s happening automatically but nobody’s asked me that question yet so we’ll see what happens,” the president told a press briefing Monday afternoon.
Major oil producers including Saudi Arabia and Russia are likely to agree to cut production at a Thursday meeting, but only if the United States joins the effort, three sources involved told Reuters on Monday.
“Without the US, no deal,” one of the sources said. Worldwide oil demand has dropped by roughly 30%, or about 30 million barrels a day, as the coronavirus pandemic brings the world economy to a standstill, at the same time that Saudi Arabia and Russia have been flooding markets with extra supply.
That has been a major problem for the economy of the United States, which has grown into the world’s largest oil and gas producer, because it has threatened the once-bustling drilling industry with layoffs and bankruptcies.
Full Content: Reuters
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