Russia backs OPEC+ as UAE departure raises doubts

Russia plans to stay in OPEC+ despite a decision by the United Arab Emirates to leave, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, expressing hope that the alliance of oil producers would continue to operate amid turmoil in the global energy market.

The UAE said on Tuesday it would quit the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, dealing a blow to the group as an energy crisis triggered by the Iran war has exposed rifts among Gulf nations.

The UAE was the fourth-largest producer in the OPEC+ grouping of OPEC members and its allies, while Russia is second, behind Saudi Arabia.

OPEC+ HELPS 'MINIMISE FLUCTUATIONS'-PESKOV

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said OPEC+ remains an important organisation, especially during current turmoil on global markets.

"This format helps to substantially, let's say, minimise fluctuations in energy markets and makes it possible to stabilise those markets," Peskov told a daily briefing.

Peskov said Russia respected the UAE's decision to leave, however, and hoped Moscow's energy dialogue with the Gulf state would continue.

Russia joined OPEC+ in 2016. The group produced nearly half the world's oil and oil liquids last year, according to International Energy Agency estimates.

Peskov later said that the UAE had not warned Moscow in advance about its plan to withdraw from OPEC+.

"No, they did not warn us. This is a sovereign decision of the United Arab Emirates. We respect this decision," he was quoted as saying by the state RIA news agency.

WEAKER OPEC COORDINATION FEARED

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday the UAE's decision could see countries boosting production, bringing down global prices in the future.

"If OPEC countries conduct their policies in an uncoordinated manner (after the UAE's exit) and produce as much oil as their production capacities allow and as much as they want, prices will go down accordingly," Siluanov said.

For now, oil prices were supported by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, he said, and any oversupply would only become a risk after the strait reopens.