After reports that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) had reached a deal that would settle the ongoing dispute about oil production levels, Trump held a joint phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi King Salman, leaders of the two countries at the core of the dispute.
"They’re getting close to a deal," Trump told reporters at the White House after the call, which was reportedly 90 minutes long. "We’ll see what happens but it was a very good call. They’ll probably announce something today or tomorrow."
Reports emerged earlier on Thursday that OPEC+ had agreed on collective cuts of 10 million barrels per day in petroleum production, with those restrictions slowly lessening through April 2022.
Oil consumption fell drastically as the world economy slowed to a halt due to travel restrictions aimed at stemming the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus. As this collapse in consumption happened to an already overloaded market, oil prices quickly plummeted to historic lows.
