US Shale Oil Producers Seek To Force Riyadh, Moscow To Cut Oil Output - Reports

US shale oil producers have proposed that the White House takes measures against Saudi Arabia and Russia, including by issuing sanctions, so that the countries reduce their oil output and crude prices stop falling, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Friday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd April, 2020) US shale oil producers have proposed that the White House takes measures against Saudi Arabia and Russia, including by issuing sanctions, so that the countries reduce their oil output and crude prices stop falling, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Friday.

On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said that he expected and hoped that Saudi Arabia and Russia would cut oil production by 10 million barrels to stabilize plummeting oil prices. The statement came after Trump spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman who, according to the US president, had conducted talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the matter. Later, Trump said that Russia and Saudi Arabia might withdraw from the global market as much as 15 million barrels of oil to support the prices, which have nosedived amid an oversupply and the coronavirus.

According to the newspaper, the companies asked former US Energy Secretary Rick Perry to help in the push, which also includes advocating a block�on Riyadh's crude shipments to Saudi Aramco's refinery in Texas, Motiva, as they face the threat of collapse amid the worldwide coronavirus lockdown and the oil "price war" triggered by the failure of OPEC+ to agree on reducing oil production.

Among other proposals are tariffs on foreign oil, the suspension of US military aid to Saudi Arabia and the introduction of new sanctions against Russia's energy industry or lifting the existing ones if Moscow agrees to cooperate.

The shale oil producers launched the initiative despite the disagreement of the oil industry's most powerful lobbying organization, the American Petroleum Institute, which is against any control on supply, the newspaper added.

The newspaper also reported that Trump was to meet oil company representatives later on Friday to discuss strategies if Saudi Arabia and Russia do not agree to cut the supply.