Amid the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent decline in oil demand, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies (OPEC+) have held video conferences and agreed to cut oil output by over a fifth to help bolster prices. In May and June, OPEC+ will reduce daily output by 10 million barrels a day, accounting for about 10% of the global supply. Meanwhile, another 5 million barrels is expected to be cut by other oil producing nations in the coming days. Between July and December, the reduction will drop to 8 million barrels a day. The production is expected to return to normal by April 2022.    

Oil prices initially crashed in March after OPEC+ failed to agree to cuts, resulting in Saudi Arabia and Russia heavily boosting production to retain market share despite drastically falling global demand, ultimately pushing oil prices to an 18-year-low.    

Prices have recovered by about 20% last week after United States President Donald J. Trump warned Saudi Arabia of sanctions that the US may impose should not reduce oil production. He stated his expectations of Saudi Arabia and Russia ending their rush to maximize market share. However, the United States has not agreed to make any reduction in production, though officials stated that "output is gradually reducing anyways due to plunging prices".