Following mounting pressure from US President Donald Trump to declare a truce in an oil price war, Saudi Arabia on Thursday called for an emergency meeting between the OPEC and its allies. The Riyadh-Moscow price war has sent crude prices plummeted, threatening higher-cost US shale oil producers.
After speaking to Saudi Arabia's de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Trump was hopeful that Saudi Arabia and Russia were working towards an agreement to cut production.
Before settling back below $30 a barrel, Brent crude prices vaulted more than 40 percent to $36.29 a barrel. Before settling back below $25, the US benchmark WTI crude prices jumped more than 30 percent to $27.39 a barrel.
As coronavirus containment measures gut crude demand, oil prices have plummeted some 70 percent since the start of the year. After Saudi Arabia-Russia market alliance collapsed in acrimony last month, that shock was exacerbated. The resulting Saudi-initiated price war has seen the kingdom boost production and the markets flooded with crude.
