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GCC-Russian Energy Meeting to Discuss Oil Market Stability | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih talks to journalists before a meeting of OPEC oil ministers in Vienna, Austria, June 2, 2016/. Reuters


Riyadh- Saudi Capital, Riyadh, is hosting on Sunday a GCC-Russian energy meeting to discuss latest developments in the oil market and tackle prospects of cooperation between Arab Gulf states and Russia in fields of energy.

Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Falih, chairman of Saudi Aramco board, hosted Saturday Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak for a meeting in Dhahran.

Novak, along with his accompanying delegation, visited Aramco and a number of oil installations, which are affiliated to the Saudi company.

He was briefed on the most developed technologies used by Aramco while investing oil fields.

Novak is visiting the Kingdom amid hopes in world oil markets for an agreement between Russia and OPEC on initiatives to keep crude above $50 a barrel.

He said that he plans to discuss in the meeting joint scientific research projects, the issue of investments in the fuel and energy sectors of Russia and Saudi Arabia, including oil production, power engineering, renewable energy sources and other projects of common interest.

Oil settled up on Friday. Brent settled up 40 cents, or 0.8 percent, at $51.78. For the week, it ended flat.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude settled up 22 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $50.85 a barrel. WTI hit a July 2015 high of $51.93 on Wednesday and ended the week 1 percent higher.

Oil prices, which in February hit 12-year lows of around $26, have risen more than 13 percent since Sept. 27, when OPEC announced plans to curb production for the first time in eight years to rein in a global crude glut that has halved prices from mid-2014 highs above $100 a barrel.

At the end of September, OPEC producers had extensive discussions and agreed on preliminary proposals around a deal that would limit production to a range of between 32.5 million and 33 million barrels per day.