The decreasing capacity of all energy products is attracting concern from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Bloomberg reports. Saudi Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman called for awareness of the surge in prices for refined products and blamed the expensive fuel on lack of investment in energy production. As the U.S. reported a record high in retail gasoline prices, these comments are even more prevalent.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are putting in billions of dollars to raise the capacity of crude products by 2 million barrels a day by the end of the decade. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and their partners have been under pressure by the United States and other major importers to increase supply quickly. The increased goal was set by OPEC+ to be 432,000 barrels per day for June, but that minimum goal is becoming more challenging to achieve as many members are failing to supply their share.
As a consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine prices of crude products have increased by over 35% to roughly $105 a barrel. Prince Abdulaziz, as the Saudi Arabian Minister of Energy, has restated numerous times that OPEC+ will refrain from involving politics in their decisions. The United Arab Emirates Minister of Energy, Suhail al Mazrouei, has pointed to the politicization of the oil market to blame for the high prices.
With the European Union getting close to imposing a formal ban on any Russian energy imports to stop any support for Moscow in the war, OPEC+ is under more and more pressure to distance itself from Russian partners.
Be the first to comment