Update: in case it was not clear this non-deal is a non-event, here it is again:

We hope that clears up any confusion about where oil is going next, and also about whether OPEC is still a production cartel.

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While previewing the “secret” meeting between the Saudi and Russian oil ministers, we explicitly said this deal would not “lead to a cut in production”, and sure enough the meeting between the two oil superpowers concluded and as expected the two failed to agree to any production cut; instead what they did agree on was to “freeze” production at January’s already record levels, and furthermore make the agreement contingent on other OPEC members complying, something Iran has already said it would not agree to.

Here is Reuters’ take:

Top oil exporters Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed on Tuesday to freeze output levels but said the deal was contingent on other producers joining in – a major sticking point with Iran absent from the talks and determined to raise production.

The Saudi, Russian, Qatari and Venezuelan oil ministers announced the proposal after a previously undisclosed meeting in Doha – their highest-level discussion in months on joint action to tackle a growing oversupply of crude and help prices recover from their lowest levels in more than a decade.

The Saudi minister, Ali al-Naimi, said freezing production at January levels – near record highs – was an adequate measure and he hoped other producers would adopt the plan. Venezuela’s Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino said more talks would take place with Iran and Iraq on Wednesday in Tehran.

“The reason we agreed to a potential freeze of production is simple: it is the beginning of a process which we will assess in the next few months and decide if we need other steps to stabilize and improve the market,” Naimi told reporters.

“We don’t want significant gyrations in prices, we don’t want reduction in supply, we want to meet demand, we want a stable oil price. We have to take a step at a time,” he said.