WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Any fluctuation in the oil market, including those caused by the OPEC’s decisions have an impact, but we have to wait for the final figures," Kalugin said Monday on the sidelines of the second annual "Doing Business With Eurasian Economic Union" Conference in Washington.
The Russia-US trade turnover is expected to decrease in 2015 as a result of the strengthening dollar and the weakening ruble, Mikhail Kalugin told Sputnik.
"We expect our trade turnover to decrease at the year end, which is quite natural. The US dollar has strengthened, the Russian ruble has weakened so the overall trade turnover will drop," Kalugin said Monday on the sidelines of the second annual "Doing Business With Eurasian Economic Union" Conference in Washington.
Kalugin added that the turnover changed also because the United States was buying less oil, which was one of the key goods in the bilateral trade, although would continue buying it for a long time.
OPEC's summit closed in Vienna on Friday, with no changes to its 30-million-barrel daily production quota. The organization's Secretary General Abdalla Salem Badri cited the uncertainty over Iran's expected output as a major factor preventing a decision from being taken. Iran is expected to ramp up its production once international sanctions are lifted from the country.
OPEC will also continue to exceed its 30 million barrels a day target, according to the organization. The excess persists despite October's production cut of 256,000 barrels per day.
Brent crude prices plunged from $115 per barrel to $48.5 per barrel between June 2014 and January 2015. Prices did not exceed $67 per barrel throughout 2015, fluctuating around an average of $55 per barrel.
