Asian markets were mixed as hopes for global economic recovery rises with more countries easing anti-coronavirus controls.
Primarily dependent on oil money, the Gulf economies are losing billions of dollars as the oil prices have hit the lowest points in history.
US crude oil futures turned negative for the first time in history as storage space was filling up, discouraging buyers as weak economic data from Germany and Japan cast doubt on when fuel consumption will recover.
The morning after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies led by Russia agreed to reduce output by 9.7 million barrels per day in May and June.
Thursday's Opec videoconference was part of a series of talks on stabilising the market, where oil prices have more than halved since the start of the year amid a pricing war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Kirill Dmitriev, one of Russia's top oil negotiators who also heads the sovereign wealth fund, says a deal is imminent, a month after oil prices tumbled due to the coronavirus pandemic and a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Oil prices have dropped by about two-thirds this year as the pandemic crushes demand and as major producers Russia and Saudi Arabia boost output in a war over market share.
Moscow says it's open to renewing cooperation with OPEC after oil giants and non-OPEC members failed to agree on production cuts leading to Saudi announcement it would increase oil output.
Delegates of OPEC and other oil producers including Russia – together known as OPEC+ – have been in a "joint technical committee" meeting in Vienna this week to discuss cutting production, amid fears of the coronavirus situation.
Prices have held relatively steady since the last OPEC meeting, with a barrel of Brent crude hovering around the $60 mark, apart from a spike in September sparked by attacks on Saudi oil installations.
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OPEC members’ net oil export revenues rose to $711 billion in 2018, marking a 32 percent increase in one year.
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