OPEC+ members have endorsed a steep cut in oil production agreed this month after the White House accused Saudi Arabia of forcing some other nations to support the move.
The United States said that the oil output cut would boost Russia’s foreign earnings and alleged that it had been engineered for political reasons by Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has rejected the US allegation.
Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz said the KSA was working hard to support stability in oil markets by maintaining the agreement of the OPEC+ alliance.
Saudi defence minister and King Salman’s son, Prince Khalid bin Salman, also said the Oct 5 decision to reduce output by 2 million barrels a day was unanimous and based on economic factors.
His comments were backed by ministers of several OPEC+ member states including the United Arab Emirates.
The Gulf state’s energy minister Suhail al-Mazrouei wrote on Twitter: “I would like to clarify that the latest OPEC+ decision, which was unanimously approved, was a pure technical decision, with NO political intentions whatsoever.”
CEO of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation Nawaf Saud al-Sabah welcomed the decision by OPEC+ — which includes other major producers, notably Russia — and said the country was keen to maintain a balanced oil markets, state news agency KUNA reported.
Oman and Bahrain also supported the decision saying that OPEC had unanimously agreed on the reduction.
Algeria’s energy minister called the decision “historic” and he and OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais, visiting Algeria, expressed their full confidence in it.
