ABU
DHABI — The
UAE on Tuesday insisted the output cut
announced this month by oil cartel OPEC and its allies, including Russia, was
not politically motivated against the US.
اضافة اعلان
The 13-nation, Saudi-led OPEC cartel and its 10
allies headed by Russia angered Washington by cutting production by 2 million
barrels a day from November, adding further upward pressure on elevated crude
prices.
The decision drew a swift rebuke from the
administration of US President Joe Biden, which had hoped for lower prices
ahead of November midterm elections, and drew criticism that Riyadh was
providing Moscow with economic support that would help to finance the war in
Ukraine.
Saudi Arabia has already previously insisted that
the October 5 move by OPEC+ was taken “purely on economic considerations” and
rejected as baseless allegations that it was politically motivated against
Washington.
On Tuesday, UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei
said the
OPEC+ decision was “good”, and that it had made it possible to “bring
prices back and stabilize them at a level close to that of October 2021”.
“I would like to reiterate that there is nothing
political about any decision we take within OPEC,” he told reporters in the UAE
capital Abu Dhabi, one of the largest oil exporters in the world.
However, “there was an attempt to politicize the
decision, which forced many officials to clarify for the hundredth time that
our decisions are technical decisions,” he added.
Each member of
OPEC+ “takes into account the interest of their country and the interest of
this industry, which is based on the balance between supply and demand”.
Other Gulf oil producers have also reiterated their
support for the OPEC+ decision, emphasizing its economic dimension. All are
close allies of the West and maintain good relations with Moscow. None have
publicly supported the invasion of Ukraine.
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