Amid fears that the global energy market will be affected by the Ukraine war, Saudi Arabia has told Western allies it wants to increase oil production if Russia cuts as a result of sanctions, citing sources who spoke to Ukraine, according to Reuters. have given. Financial Times
Despite Saudi Arabia’s resistance to White House demands for increased production, in order not to exacerbate the energy crisis, the country insists it maintains its “surplus production capacity.”
The newspaper quoted a diplomatic source as saying that talks on an immediate increase in production of Saudi Arabia and the UAE took place at Thursday’s OPEC Plus meeting, but nothing has been completed so far.
The source confirmed that the increase in production planned for September may take place in July or August.
Concerns about oil shortages have risen following a new package of EU sanctions against Moscow, including a ban on Russian oil shipments by sea, which is still final talks in Brussels.
The European Union (EU) has agreed to a deal with Britain to ban Russian oil cargo insurance, which could severely limit Moscow’s ability to transport its oil to other parts of the world.
“Saudi Arabia is aware of the dangers and it is not in its interest to lose control of oil prices,” a source told the newspaper.
Saudi Arabia believes that there is no real oil shortage so far, but that may change with the revival of the global economy, especially after the opening of major Chinese cities, when Russia produces more than 10 percent. According to the report, global crude oil.
The report shows that there are tensions between the United States and Saudi Arabia, as Riyadh has repeatedly rejected requests to speed up production.
Referring to the recent visit of Brett McGurk, White House’s Middle East policy coordinator, and Amos Hochstein, the White House’s envoy, an informed person said that the visit of a high-level US delegation to Saudi Arabia helped improve relations.
Those familiar with the talks revealed that Saudi Arabia “agreed to change the tone of efforts to try to calm prices as it approached US President Joe Biden’s administration, and also offered assurances that if production increased, the response would be “The supply crisis in the oil market.”
According to AFP, the latest European sanctions package against Moscow envisions a 90 percent reduction in Russian oil imports from Europe by the end of this year, with the aim of depriving the Kremlin of a “huge source of funding” for the war with Ukraine.
At the end of talks in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that his country, which is subject to EU oil sanctions, would like to continue cooperating within the framework of OPEC Plus. Agreements
Lavrov told a news conference in Riyadh that “we discussed this issue during talks with the foreign ministers of the Gulf states in Riyadh, but only in the context of the ratification of the cooperation agreements reached with OPEC Plus, which have been repeatedly confirmed by us.” Is. leaders.”
He added: “The principles of cooperation are always important on this basis.”
Saudi Arabia, the world’s number one oil exporter, has benefited from higher crude oil prices since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Source: Lebanon Debate
