- The United States claimed that more than one OPEC country was forced to cut
- Iraq Kuwait, other OPEC+ members, stand by the decision
- The Saudi defense minister says the decision was purely economic
CAIRO, Oct 16 (Reuters) – OPEC+ member states lined up on Sunday to approve a sharp output cut agreed this month after the White House, escalating a war of words with Riyadh, said Saudi Arabia Saudi had coerced other nations to support the move.
Washington pointed out on Thursday that the cut would boost Russia’s foreign earnings and suggested it had been engineered for political reasons by Riyadh, which on Sunday strongly denied backing Moscow in its war with Ukraine.
The kingdom’s defense minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, also said the Oct. 5 decision to cut output by 2 million barrels a day, which came despite tight oil markets, was unanimous and was based on economic factors.
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His comment was echoed by Iraq, OPEC’s second largest exporter, and several producer states.
“There is full consensus among OPEC+ countries that the best approach to dealing with oil market conditions during the current period of uncertainty and lack of clarity is a preventive approach that supports market stability and provide the necessary guidance for the future,” Iraq said. state oil marketer SOMO said in a statement.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation CEO Nawaf Saud al-Sabah also welcomed the decision by OPEC+, which includes other major producers, notably Russia, and said the country was willing to maintain a balanced oil market, he state news agency KUNA reported.
Oman and Bahrain also said in separate statements that OPEC had unanimously agreed to the reduction.
Algeria’s energy minister called the October 5 decision “historic” and he and OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais, visiting Algeria, expressed their full confidence in it, reported Ennahar TV from Algeria.
Ghais later told a news conference that the organization was looking for a balance between supply and demand rather than a specific price.
Oil stocks in major economies are at lower levels than when OPEC cut production in the past.
But some analysts have said the recent volatility in crude markets could be remedied by a cut that would help attract investors to an underperforming market.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that “more than one” OPEC member had felt pressured by Saudi Arabia into the vote, adding that the cut also it would increase Russia’s revenue and reduce the effectiveness of sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine.
Khalid bin Salman said on Sunday that he was “surprised” by claims that his country was “on Russia’s side in its war with Ukraine”.
“It is telling that these false accusations did not come from the Ukrainian government,” the king’s youngest son wrote on Twitter.
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Reporting by Moataz Mohamed, Yasmin Hussien and Maha El Dahan; additional reporting by Nayer Abdallah and Ahmed Tolba; Edited by Louise Heavens, Alexandra Hudson
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