Following the further slide in oil price this month, there have been calls for a downward review of the oil benchmark price of $38 proposed by President Muhammadu Buhari for this year’s budget.

Russia’s energy minister said Thursday that Moscow was ready to take part in an OPEC meeting aimed at establishing possible “coordination” in the face of low oil prices due largely to a supply glut.

Russian officials have decided they should talk to Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries about output curbs to bolster oil prices, the head of Russia’s pipeline monopoly said.

Instead, he suggests a sustained recovery in oil prices would probably require “stronger foundations”.

While the similar headlines on the possible OPEC-Russia cooperation have caused brief rallies in oil prices previous year, the recent rhetoric is different in the matter of the involvement of parties from Russia, the analysts said in a report, obtained by Trend.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is considering a request from cash-strapped Venezuela to hold an emergency meeting.

Brent crude was up USD 1.41 at USD 34.51 a barrel by 9:39 am ET, after hitting a session peak of USD 35.84.

Saudi Arabian officials did not immediately comment on the proposal but a senior Gulf OPEC delegate said: “Gulf OPEC countries and Saudi Arabia are willing to cooperate for any action to stabilize the worldwide oil market”.

Russian Federation last met with Saudi Arabia in November and there have been no approaches since, Novak said.

But some analysts believe Russian Federation is actually likely to increase production this year to protect its economy.

Crude prices have fallen from $115 per barrel in June 2014 to around $27 a barrel this month – a 77 percent decline to reach their lowest levels since 2003.

Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that Iran is reluctant to restrain supply as it wants to claw back market share and feels that its economic situation is less affected by the low oil price because of the lifting of sanctions. Anticipation that OPEC and non-OPEC producers could coordinate production cuts has been around all week, and a closing gain on Thursday would be the third in a row.

He is the chief executive of Russia’s biggest oil producer, Rosneft and has repeatedly made clear in public that Russian Federation – now the world’s largest oil producer – will not blink first in the battle with OPEC over market share and pricing.

Kelly said the proposed cuts were unlikely to happen.