The Saudi and Russian oil ministers are meeting - and crude oil is ripping higher

It doesn't take too much to move the price of oil these days.

The commodity is up over 5% on a report in the Financial Times that the Saudi Arabian oil chief, Ali al-Naimi, is meeting with counterparts from Russia, Qatar, and Venezuela. There have been increasing calls from OPEC members to cut production and raise prices.

Here's what that did to the crude oil price:

The meeting exposes the divisions within OPEC, the oil-producing cartel.

Saudi Arabia, perhaps the most powerful OPEC member, wants to continue with a strategy of oversupply to drive down prices. The aim is to undercut the profitability of the US shale oil industry.

But a production cut, and higher prices, would benefit other members, such as Venezuela and Russia, who have higher oil production costs.

The meeting comes a day after the first Iranian oil exports hit Europe, which will put further downward pressure on prices.

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