Opec's new partner

Russian producers grudgingly adhered to the cuts and a stronger oil price helped perk up the economy

Russia made some unusual strides in its energy strategy in 2017. After agreeing to the supply pact with Opec at the end of 2016, it came good—surprising some—on its pledge to cut 300,000 barrels a day of output. Then, as the year moved on, its relationship with Saudi Arabia deepened further, becoming a broad investment and geopolitical alliance. The unorthodoxy wasn't to everyone's taste: many of Russia's own energy majors bristled at the Opec cuts, which forced them to shelve a number of greenfield projects in Siberia. By October, after the Saudi king's visit to Moscow and deals between the countries worth $3bn were agreed, it seemed the producers would have to get used to the new state of

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