'Encouraging signs emerge': expert weighs in on downward trend in oil prices

He said this on the Espreso TV channel.

"There are encouraging signs in Saudi Arabia's behavior. It should be recalled that as recently as last autumn, Prince Mohammed bin Salman began warning OPEC+ partners, quite transparently pointing to three countries that were violating established quotas. This concerned Iraq, Kazakhstan, and Russia. Before the New Year, Riyadh repeated its warnings. And when Trump became President of the United States, he voiced a desire to receive $600 billion in investments from Saudi Arabia. Riyadh is gradually moving from words to action," commented the expert on international energy and security relations.

According to him, the latest statements are already being made openly, without any hints, but only Iraq and Kazakhstan were named as the culprits for the fact that the Saudis have to switch to a different course—increasing production and gaining a larger market share.

"Saudi Arabia has such opportunities because it has about 3 million barrels per day of spare production capacity for export to the world market. For comparison, Russia's spare capacity is no more than 0.7 million barrels per day. So if Russia starts to compete with Saudi Arabia by also adding more oil for export, this will drive the price down even further," emphasized Mykhailo Honchar.

• In April, it was reported that Russia's oil revenues fell to their lowest level since mid-2023, as exports have been declining for the third week in a row, and oil product prices are falling amid the trade war between the U.S. and China.
• Earlier, Andriy Zakrevskyi, Deputy Director of the Association of Energy and Natural Resources of Ukraine, noted that the price of Brent oil will be $60 per barrel by the end of this year.