No other country can decide economic interests of OPEC Plus

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia has said that the decision to cut fuel production has not been taken by a single member country of OPEC Plus. This decision was taken unanimously to remove the instability in the fuel market in consideration of the interests of OPEC Plus member countries. No other country can decide the economic interests of the member countries of OPEC Plus. Saudi also said that the demand of the Biden administration to postpone the reduction of fuel production by a month could not be accepted.

The OPEC Plus group, which includes the world’s leading oil producers, announced a decision last week to cut crude oil production by 2 million barrels per day. OPEC Plus had clarified that this decision would be implemented the next month. The organisation said that this decision was taken keeping in mind the instability in the international market and the economic interests of the member countries of OPEC Plus. United Arab Emirates (UAE) informed that this decision of OPEC Plus is not political but technical. But the decision of this group, which Saudi controls, had repercussions in the United States. Senior members of the US Senate held Saudi and UAE responsible for this decision of OPEC Plus and demanded action against these countries. Some senators had called for the implementation of NOPEC against Saudi Arabia and the UAE, saying that the US guarantee of the sovereignty to OPEC member countries could prove to be a hurdle in action.

‘No Oil Production and Exporting Cartels-NOPEC’ or ‘NOPEC’ will revoke the security guarantee given to the members of ‘OPEC Plus’ and the fuel companies in these countries. These senators also claimed that the CEO and senior leaders of the leading Saudi fuel companies could also be prosecuted in the US court under NOPEC. But some analysts have warned that this would jeopardise relations of the United States with Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern allies.

But ignoring this, US President Joe Biden threatened Saudi Arabia to be ready for serious consequences for the decision to cut fuel production. Biden warned that the action would be announced after talking to the members of the US Congress. A strong reaction has emanated from Saudi. Saudi Arabia categorically rejected the allegations made by the US President.

OPEC Plus unanimously decided to cut fuel production to protect the interests of global and member countries from the instability between supply and demand in the fuel market. This is not a unilateral decision by Saudi. Therefore, no other country should try to determine the economic interests of the member countries of OPEC Plus. Saudi has also said that OPEC Plus did not take this decision to support Russia.

Meanwhile, Saudi reported that the Biden administration had asked them to postpone the cut in fuel production by a month. But this demand of the Biden administration cannot be accepted in any form. Saudi pointed out that international markets would be destabilised if the Biden administration’s demands were accepted. Analysts claim that President Biden made this demand against the background of the mid-term elections in the United States next month.