OPEC Saudi Arabia. Qatar. Venezuela.

Kuwait Members Traveled to Iran

Dominant OPEC power Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC

Russia, the world's top two producers and exporters,
agreed on Tuesday to freeze production levels but said
the deal was contingent on others joining in - a major
sticking point with Iran absent from the talks and
determined to raise production.
OPEC members Qatar, Venezuela and Kuwait said
they were also ready to freeze output and oil sources in
Iraq - the world's fastest-growing producer in the past
year - said Baghdad would abide by a global deal
aimed at tackling a growing oversupply and helping
prices recover from their lowest in over a decade.
Take, for example, the rumor that the Saudis and the Russians the worlds largest oil
producers are going to agree to an immediate 5% production cut.
The oil market needs the cut, certainly, as 2016 looks like it will be the third straight
year that output exceeds demand by one million barrels per day.

Not Enough Pain Yet

Now, Russia and the Saudis did agree to an oil production freeze at the January level
not a cut. And its contingent on both Iran and Iraq agreeing to the freeze.

At this point, thats really unlikely. And even if all of the partiesdid agree, theres the
matter of cheating, which they all do and will likely do again.
Mikhail Leontyev, the spokesman for Russias biggest oil company,Rosneft (OJSCY),
said Nothing new has happened. This [oil buying] frenzy is idiotic.
And hes right.
From Russias standpoint, a cutback in output is tough to do. Much of their oil flows
from the frozen fields of Siberia. If you cut off the flow of oil during the winter,
everything will literally freeze up, damaging equipment.
Plus, they and the Saudis arent going to pull back just when they have their common
enemy the U.S. shale producers on the ropes.
And you can bet the Saudis are not going to cede market share to their rival, Iran.
Any cutback by the Saudis and Russia will quickly be filled by Iran. Iran has already
stated that price doesnt matter, only market share.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/oil-price-saudi-arabia-opec-russia-petroldiesel-a6876851.html

An agreement there on February 16th between Saudi Arabia and Russia, two of the worlds
biggest oil producers, to freeze production at January levels if others join in, may signal a
similarly never-ending saga to shore up oil prices.
( Russia and Saudi Absolute Advantage)
The Saudis cannot reduce their oil production without risking bankruptcy; after all, this is the only income
generating industry that Saudi Arabia can count upon.
On the other hand, Russia under Putin is already bankrupt. This is why it will sign any agreement that will
somehow postpone the final denouement. Whether
"mother" Russia will respect the agreement is another story, one that the Saudis will have to deal with in
the near future. For the time being ... it make for nice headlines.

So far, the Saudi-Russia oil accord did not impress the market. Nevertheless, if the price per barrel goes
up, even slightly, the oil surplus will increase. As a result, the price will go down. How far down is anyone's
guess.
US and its allies punishing Russia for its follies. Oil and natural gas sales accounted for 70% of Russias
total export revenues in 2014.The price crash of hydro-carbon is disaster for Russian economy.
I suppose US anticipated the proposed alliance between Saudi Arabia and Russia so bring in Iran. Iran
will not cut the production due to the fact that they need foreign exchange.
It is nicely complicated. Since Russia and Iran are allies in the war in Syria and Iran has bought many
Russian weapons. So it seems that the West is also playing a divide game with oil producers. Taking into
account that Saudi Arabia is the ally of the US and others are not (like Venezuela, Iran etc).

Saudi Arabia has resisted making any cuts in output to boost prices from a 12year low, arguing that it would simply be losing market share unless its rivals
also agreed to reduce supplies.
Naimis comments may continue to feed speculation that the worlds biggest
oil producers will take action to revive prices.
The reason we agreed to a potential freeze of production is simply the
beginning of a process over the next few months, Naimi told reporters. We
dont want significant gyrations in prices. We dont want a reduction in supply.
We want to meet demand. We want a stable oil price.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/oil-price-saudi-arabia-opecrussia-petrol-diesel-a6876851.html

http://www.wsj.com/articles/oil-prices-rise-sharply-on-news-of-saudi-russiaproduction-meeting-1455593419

http://www.growthstockwire.com/4297/the-saudi-russia-oil-deal-is-worthless-here-swhy

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-16/saudi-arabia-and-russia-agreeoil-output-freeze-in-qatar-talks

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/02/16/russia-saudi-arabia-output-freeze-helps-oil-pricehigher-in-asia.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/oil-meeting-idUSKCN0VP01M
http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21693244-potential-freezeoil-output-will-do-little-buoy-prices-another-doha