In a surprise move last month, OPEC+ members –  including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman and Algeria – announced voluntary oil production cuts amounting to 1.16 million barrels per day from May until the end of the year as a precautionary measure to support oil market stability.

April’s announcement followed a historic cut in October last year, when the OPEC+ group slashed its crude output by two million bpd, its biggest production cut since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Owji, who made the remarks in a joint press conference with Russian Deputy ‎Prime ‎Minister Alexander Novak after the signing of 10 cooperation documents, added Tehran and Moscow have “similar” views in OPEC+ and back each other. ‎

He said within the framework of a joint committee for setting oil prices, meetings have been held since a ‎few months ago and an agreement will be reached on crude prices in the region. ‎

Commenting on the common challenges faced by Iran and Russia, Owji said the two major regional ‎countries are both under sanctions. ‎

He, however, added they can make the sanctions ineffective on the back of their “good” capacities and ‎through backing each other. ‎

Turning to the $40 billion worth of cooperation agreements signed in November last year between Iran ‎and Russian energy giant Gazprom, the minister said the two sides will sign a number of contracts in relation to ‎last year’s deal. ‎

He pointed to the 10 cooperation documents signed earlier in the day, giving the assurance that they will ‎soon be implemented.‎

The minister added Iran and Russia have numerous capabilities in the field of energy, especially the oil and ‎gas ‎sectors, and have signed “good” MoUs and agreements for cooperation in the oil, gas and ‎petrochemical ‎industries since Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi took office in August ‎‎2021.  ‎

He said Iran has signed favorable agreements with leading Russian firms on the development of oil and ‎gas fields, the implementation of which has achieved good progress, noting that some of the contracts ‎have reached the production stage. ‎