Saudi Arabia’s energy minister on Wednesday dismissed rumors of a disagreement with Russia, its ally in the OPEC+ oil-producing group, and highlighted the coordinated extension of “voluntary” cuts introduced this week. Riyadh decided on Monday to extend its quota reduction by one million barrels a day in August to push prices to half-mast, with Russia signaling in the process to cut its exports by 500,000 barrels a day.
This simultaneous announcement is “quite telling,” Prince Abdelaziz bin Salman said at the opening of an OPEC international seminar in Vienna, the organization’s headquarters. In addition to the desire to “stabilize the market,” he added, “we are acting in part to counter cynical comments from observers” about alleged tensions between Saudi Arabia and Russia, two of the world’s three largest oil producers.
“Independent sources to verify Russian figures”
According to analysts, Riyadh is, in fact, all alone in fighting the markets, while Russia is reluctant to implement its commitments because it needs oil windfalls to finance its costly war in Ukraine. According to estimates, it is far from cutting its production from the promised volume and is concentrating on Asian markets such as India and China, which offer an alternative to Western sanctions adopted in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
Faced with these accusations, OPEC+ called on “independent sources to verify Russia’s figures,” recalled the Saudi minister. Moscow “has committed to conducting this exercise on a monthly basis,” he insisted. Asked about the mixed investor reaction to the recent production cuts, Prince Abdelaziz bin Salman urged patience and deplored “environmental negativism.”
The alliance’s strategy, made up of thirteen members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its ten allies led by Russia, has so far failed to restore oil prices, undermined by persistent demand concerns, particularly in China.
Source: BFM TV
