Citing Kremlin, Reuters reports on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabian Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke by phone on Thursday and underlined the importance of further cooperation within the OPEC+ group of oil producers.

Key takeaways

“Saudi Arabia consulted closely with Russia before pushing for the production hikes.”

“Riyadh wants to keep Russia on board to increase leverage in the oil market, while Moscow gains from being part of OPEC+ at a time when the West is trying to strangle its economy with sanctions over the war.”

Market reaction

WTI is catching a fresh bid on the above headlines, recapturing the $97 mark, adding 1.02% on the day, at the time of writing.