The OPEC deal can be seen as a victory for Russia in terms of geopolitical influence. Without being an active member of the OPEC, Russia could influence the outcome of the OPEC which is dominated by Saudi Arabia, a traditional U.S. ally. Russia and Saudi Arabia are at loggerheads in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia’s arch-rival Iran is Russia’s one of the closest ally in the Middle East; two are separated by their support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Yet Russia could act as an important ally to Saudi Arabia when it came to stabilizing the oil market and it is quite a big deal, since these mega producers have been fighting out to increase their market share.

Not only that, if you look close to the deal document it fails to mention other non-OPEC countries that would be taking part other than the Russian Federation. “This agreement has been reached following extensive consultations and understanding reached with key non-OPEC countries, including the Russian Federation that they contribute by a reduction of 600 tb/d production.”

Now, after deal commentaries from Russian energy minister Alexander Novak suggests that Russia might be shouldering half of the non-OPEC cuts, lower than that of Saudi Arabia and while the OPEC members would implement the deal from January, Russian Federation would take more time, probably months in cutting production.