US President Donald Trump standing with members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force team, speaks during a press briefing in the press briefing room of the White House on March 14 in Washington, DC. Photo: AFP

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that he believes Russia and Saudi Arabia are close to a deal to cut oil production amid rock-bottom prices, following talks he held with the two nations' leaders.

"The conversation was very good. They're getting close to a deal. That's OPEC and many other countries outside of OPEC," Trump said at a White House briefing, referring to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, of which Saudi Arabia is a key member.

Noting that energy companies are suffering from historic low prices, the US president said a deal between Russia and Saudi Arabia to cut production would improve the situation for the battered oil industry.

"We need a minimum number (price) so companies don't go out of business, so they're not going to lay off all these energy workers who are important to our country," Trump said.

"We'll soon find out," said the US president. "We'll see what happens."

According to a report from Bloomberg, OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, led by Russia, on Thursday tentatively agreed to cut production by 10 million barrels per day in May and June, but Mexico has reportedly objected to its portion of the cuts.

Bloomberg cited a delegate as saying that the group does not intend to meet again on Friday, but will focus on talks at Friday's Group of Twenty (G20) energy ministers meeting.

Oil consumption has dramatically decreased as more countries implement restrictive measures and shut down large swaths of the economy in order to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. That, coupled with a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, has sent recent oil prices into an 18-year low.