MOSCOW – Oil-producing countries including those of the OPEC cartel and Russia are trying to strike a global deal to pump less crude in a bid to limit a crash in prices that, while welcome for consumers, has been straining government budgets and pushed energy companies toward bankruptcy.
Thursday's videoconference is part of a series of talks on stabilizing a market, where oil prices have more than halved since the start of the year amid a pricing war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
The drop was intensified when the coronavirus pandemic caused a further plunge in the demand for oil as travel and business ground to a halt globally.