Putin, Saudi Prince to meet after oil-supply deal finalized

MOSCOW (Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin is to meet with Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Moscow Tuesday after the world’s biggest oil exporters reached a deal to prolong supply cuts for another nine months.

Prince Mohammed, who met Putin on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in China in September, left Saudi Arabia for meetings in Russia with Putin and other top officials, the state-run Saudi press agency said on Twitter Tuesday.

While on opposite sides of the six-year Syrian civil war, with Russia and Iran backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against rebels supported by Saudi Arabia and other allies, cooperation between the crude producers has proven key to an accord aimed at propping up global oil prices.

OPEC and its partners on Thursday agreed to extend last year’s landmark deal, which has failed to eliminate global oversupply or achieve a sustained price recovery in the past six months. Saudi Arabia quickly delivered a cut of 600,000 bpd, exceeding its pledge. Russia cut half that amount gradually, in line with its commitment.