OPEC’s historical deal to cut production has been sealed, and oil prices have jumped as a result, comfortably above the $50 per barrel mark. According to Lukoil’s vice president, Leonid Fedun, the average price of crude in 2017 could reach US$60 a barrel, thanks in no small part to that agreement. According to some observers, the effect won’t be so noticeable , and prices will continue to hover around US$50. In any case, Russia will certainly benefit from the cut agreement, as the chief of VTB, one of the country’s largest banks, said recently. Andrey Kostin said that the decision to cut production will, on the one hand, prop up international prices, which of course is good news for Russia, and on the other hand, it will benefit the ruble, an outcome which was also to be expected given the central place crude oil occupies in […]