Oil price rise due to 'weaker dollar and not Opec pact', says Rosneft boss

The recent rise in oil prices is down to a weaker dollar and not ongoing efforts by Opec and selected non-Opec producers to curb crude production, according to Igor Sechin, chief executive officer of Russia's Rosneft.

Speaking to news agency Tass on Friday (8 September), the boss of the Russian majority state-owned oil and gas giant, and close confidant of President Vladimir Putin, added that the Opec deal has 'no impact' on the crude market.

At 12:15pm BST, the Brent front-month futures contract was up 0.37% or 20 cents to $54.69 per barrel, comfortably above the psychological $50 level.

"The Americans support their shale oil producers through dollar depreciation. I believe that the Opec deal has no impact on the market, it is the dollar devaluation," Sechin remarked.

On 25 May, Opec and 10 non-Opec producers, including Russia, decided to extend their 1.8 million barrels per day headline output cut to March 2018. Opec is scheduled to meet next on 30 November at its Secretariat in Vienna, Austria, amid market speculation that the deal might well be rolled over again for another six months.

However, Sechin said it would all depend on Opec heavyweight Saudi Arabia, and Riyadh's plans for a public listing of a minority stake in state oil behemoth Saudi Aramco.

"If it [Saudi Arabia] goes for the listing, they will be interested in higher prices and will probably encourage their Opec partners to extend it. If they don't, they will be less interested."