Exclusive: Russia's Dmitriev says Russia, US and Saudi Arabia could act jointly to stabilise oil markets
ST PETERSBURG, June 19 (Reuters) - Russia, the United States and Saudi Arabia could act jointly to stabilise oil markets if needed, Russia's investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev told Reuters.
Oil prices surged on Thursday after Israel said it attacked Iranian nuclear sites in Natanz and Arak overnight and as investors grappled with fears of a broader conflict in the Middle East that could disrupt crude supplies.
Dmitriev, chief of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, said there was a precedent for similar joint action in 2020.
"There was an example when (Russian) President Putin, (U.S.) President Trump and (Saudi) Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman played a key role in stabilising markets," Dmitriev said on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
"It is early to talk about concrete joint action yet but based on an earlier precedent, such action is possible."
In the spring of 2020, as oil prices plummeted amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump brokered a deal with top crude producers Russia and Saudi Arabia to cut output and calm the markets.
"Events in the Middle East create conditions for oil price rises. The dynamics of these events will define how dramatic this rise will be," Dmitriev said.
"The dynamics of such rises sharply reduce the possibility of further restrictions on Russia's energy sector," he said, referring to European Union deliberations on tightening sanctions against Moscow.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
15 minutes ago
- Reuters
Russia and Ukraine exchange POWs, Russian news agencies report
MOSCOW, June 19 (Reuters) - Russia and Ukraine have carried out another exchange of prisoners of war, Russian news agencies reported on Thursday, citing a statement from Russia's Defence Ministry.
Telegraph
33 minutes ago
- Telegraph
What happens if Trump says no to war with Iran?
'We will be the first nation to become extinct through tiredness'. This is the very Israeli joke doing the rounds in Tel Aviv where no night for the last five has gone uninterrupted without at least one dash to the bomb shelter. It's a nice way of shrugging off danger and giving a nod to the country's resilience, while at the same time acknowledging the deep anxiety here. Think back to sitting in the sun in your garden during the first weeks of the Covid lockdown unsure of whether you'll need to be intubated and you'll get the vibe. With jokes out of the way, two big questions dominate conversation here – one spoken, one left hanging awkwardly. Will the US join in the assault on Iran? And what happens if it doesn't? For the moment, the vast majority of Israelis believe it is only a matter of time before Trump joins in. Some think he and Benjamin Netanyahu have been in cahoots all along, others that the mercurial Israeli prime minister has left Trump with little option other than to attack. They point to the build up of the US war machine in the region, the power of the Israeli lobby in Washington and the 'moral' case for action. The phrase 'regime change' has not been used with such fervour since the build up to the invasion of Iraq in early part of 2003. 'Tougher than Iraq' Every US president needs a Cheney, goes the quip, and Bibi is Trump's Dick. There is a logic to all this and the fact that the US has not yet got involved is no indication that it will not do so. Iran is a vast, mountainous and faraway country with a population of 92 million (just ask Senator Ted Cruz). It also has a standing army of 610,000, rising to 960,000 with reserves. Taking on regime change in such a place is no small task – tougher even than Iraq – and the Pentagon will want weeks, perhaps months, to get its pieces in place before acting. US generals would not just have to prepare for retaliatory strikes against their own troops in the region (some 40,000 to 50,000) but assure its allies in the Gulf that it would protect their gas and oil fields, not to mention the shipping lanes they rely on. Let's face it, that recent trade tour Trump undertook in Saudi, the UAE and Qatar will have been for nothing if the region's oil industry goes up in smoke. Then there are the political risks for Trump to consider, not to mention legacy. The US was engaged in Iraq for nearly nine years and he owes much of his rise to power to the 'America First' promise and his rejection of 'endless conflict'. It's no wonder his MAGA base is showing signs of splitting over the issue. But what if Trump decides that war is not worth the risk. What if he rejects the TACO taunts, saying he never wanted the war? That today – along with the ballistic missiles – is what most Israelis are losing sleep over.
The Independent
40 minutes ago
- The Independent
Iran's Arak heavy water reactor, hit by an Israeli airstrike, was part of Tehran's nuclear deal
Much of the focus on Iran 's nuclear program has been on Tehran 's enrichment of uranium, but experts also keep a close watch on the Islamic Republic's Arak heavy water reactor. That's because the facility, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) southwest of Tehran, could produce plutonium, which can be used to make an atomic bomb. Israel pointed to just that concern when it launched airstrikes Thursday on the reactor, following its attacks on other Iranian nuclear sites, including the Nantanz enrichment facility, centrifuge workshops near Tehran, and laboratories in Isfahan. Iran acknowledged the strikes, saying at least two projectiles slammed into the compound, without giving any specifics about damage. Never online, the reactor had no uranium fuel and saw no nuclear release from the strike. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, has warned repeatedly that such sites — whether in Iran or Ukraine — should not be military targets. Arak grew out of Iran's onetime military nuclear program After Iran's devastating 1980s war with Iraq, it began a secret military program to seek a nuclear weapon and approached four nations to purchase a heavy water-moderated reactor. After getting turned down, Iran decided to build its own. Heavy water is water in which hydrogen is replaced by deuterium and is used as a coolant for heavy water reactors. The reactors can be used for scientific purposes, but plutonium is a byproduct of the process. Before the centrifuge technology that enriches uranium to levels high enough for use in weapons became widespread, many states used heavy water reactors to pursue plutonium-fueled bombs. India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed states, have heavy water reactors, as does Israel, which has never acknowledged having atomic weapons but is widely believed to have them. Though Iran ultimately embraced uranium-enriching centrifuges as the main driver of its program, it built the reactor, which never went online. Iran has long maintained its program is for peaceful purposes. However, it also had been enriching uranium up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Iran was the only non-nuclear-weapon state to enrich at that level. Arak was part of Iran's nuclear deal with world powers Iran agreed under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers to redesign the facility to alleviate proliferation concerns. That included pouring concrete into part of it, though the overall work never was completed. The Arak reactor became a point of contention after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018. Ali Akbar Salehi, a high-ranking nuclear official in Iran, claimed on Iranian state television in 2019 that Tehran bought extra parts to replace the portion of the reactor into which officials poured concrete. Due to restrictions Iran has imposed on inspectors, the IAEA has said it lost 'continuity of knowledge' about Iran's heavy water production — meaning it could not absolutely verify Tehran's production and stockpile. Israeli strike likely heavily damaged the inert reactor On Thursday morning, Israel carried out an airstrike on the reactor. Black-and-white footage of the strike it released showed a bomb dropping on its dome and sending up a massive plume of fire and smoke. The U.N. nuclear watchdog noted that since it was not in operation and contained no nuclear material, there was no danger to the public after the strike from any 'radiological effects.' The IAEA said it had no information on whether the facility nearby where heavy water is produced had been hit. Israel's military said its fighter jets targeted the Arak facility and its reactor core seal to halt it from being used to produce plutonium. 'The strike targeted the component intended for plutonium production, in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development,' the Israelis said. ___ The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. ___
