 In June 2015, Russian president Vladimir Putin received deputy crown prince Mohammad bin Salman along with the Saudi minister of petroleum and mineral resources Ali al-Naimi; the latter spoke of ″creating a petroleum alliance between the two countries for the benefit of the international oil market as well as producing countries and stabilizing and improving the market″.In late November 2016, Russia agreed to join OPEC nations to reduce oil output, with cuts taking effect from 1 January 2017 to last for six months.In terms of the Russian energy demand structure, domestic production greatly exceeds domestic demand, making Russia the world's leading net energy exporter.