Russia and Abu Dhabi on Friday signed a cooperation agreement to stabilise energy markets amid a rising trend in oil prices, the Kremlin said. The deal, signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, calls for both countries to maintain contacts "to ensure balance and stability on the world hydrocarbon market, taking into account the interests of producers and consumers".
High oil prices are usually seen to be in the interest of producer countries, and lower prices in the interest of consumers. Russia and the Opec cartel of oil producers including the United Arab Emirates at the end of 2016 reached a deal to cut production following a glut that had sent prices crashing and the crude sector into disarray.
"Our joint efforts, including our friends from Saudi Arabia and from the whole of the Opec organisation, bring good results to stabilise the hydrocarbons market," Putin said in a statement posted on the government website.
Last month Russia and Saudi Arabia said they believe a deal is possible to gradually boost oil output from as soon as July as world oil prices have recently hit highs last seen in 2014. Abu Dhabi, one of seven states in the United Arab Emirates, holds more than 90 percent of the federation's 98 billion barrels of crude oil reserves. The UAE is Opec's fourth largest crude oil producer.
"I think our cooperation will increase, including with the signing of the declaration on a strategic partnership," the crown prince told Putin in translated comments. He said that he expected the volume of trade between the countries "to continue to strengthen exponentially."
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