A New Global Oil Deal Could Draw Lessons From 1998

But back then Putin was only at the start of his first presidential term and had little control of the oil industry, split between various oligarchs following the chaotic privatisation after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Fast forward 15 years, and the oil industry is mostly owned by the Kremlin and Putin has almost absolute power.

"You have to take this seriously now. Key will be if Russia can deliver," said OPEC watcher and founder of U.S.-based Pira Group Gary Ross, who was involved in the 2001 Russia-OPEC talks.

Putin and his ally, head of Kremlin oil major Rosneft, Igor Sechin, have yet to speak about the recent talk of a joint move with OPEC.

But Sechin in the past said he would not support cooperation by Russia, where one popular conspiracy theory maintains that the low oil prices of the 1980s were orchestrated by Saudi Arabia and the United States to undermine the Soviet Union. Sechin has also said OPEC had "lost its teeth".

A year ago, Putin said it was possible that the current price crash was orchestrated in the same way as the crash of the 1980s, which effectively led to a collapse of the Soviet Union - a huge tragedy, according to Putin.

"There is a lot of talk today about why it is happening. Maybe it is a Saudi-U.S. plot to punish Iran, or put pressure on the Russian economy or Venezuela," Putin said back then.


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