The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is “hoping to work out an agreement with OPEC+ which includes Russia”, according to Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, media reported…reports Asian Lite News
The minister told Financial Times that politics should be kept out of OPEC+ and insisted the “world should appreciate the value” the alliance of oil producers.
Oil prices have reached their highest levels in a decade, a set of OPEC+ production quotas put in place in April 2020 is set to expire in three months, the Arab News reported.
The minister said it was too early to say what a new agreement might look like given the uncertainties in the market, but added that OPEC+ would increase production “if the demand is there.”
“With the havoc you see now it’s too premature to try to pinpoint (an agreement),” he said in the interview. “But what we know is what we have succeeded to deliver is sufficient for people to say so far there is a merit, there is a value of being there, working together.”
A week ago, the OPEC had revised its forecasts for this year’s global economic growth and oil demand, citing COVID-19-induced restrictions and geopolitical tensions.
The oil alliance said in its monthly oil market report that the world economy is expected to grow by 3.5 per cent in 2022, compared to its forecast of 3.9 per cent a month ago.
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OPEC said notable challenges facing the global economy include “geopolitical tensions, the continued pandemic, rising inflation, aggravated supply chain issues, high sovereign debt levels in many regions and expected monetary tightening by central banks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and the euro area.”
The oil-producer group also forecasts the global oil demand this year to increase by 3.4 million barrels per day year on year, down 300,000 barrels per day from last month’s assessment.
Oil demand in 2022 is expected to be “impacted by ongoing geopolitical developments in Eastern Europe, as well as COVID-19 pandemic restrictions,” OPEC said in its report. (with inputs from ANI/Xinhua)