Amid soaring global prices, many are hoping oil-exporting nations will significantly increase volumes to quell inflation at their next meeting scheduled for Wednesday. But the secretary general of the alliance, the Kuwaiti Haitham al-Ghais reminds us that Russia should not be angry either. A member “ essential of OPEC+, according to the boss of the alliance.
This is not the kind of message that will please Washington two days before this new summit of oil-exporting countries. Joe Biden, on an official trip in the first of them, Saudi Arabia, two weeks ago, had pleaded for the opening of the floodgates in order to relieve the world economy and the wallets of the Americans.
For months now, the alliance has failed to meet the quotas it has set itself by agreement in 2021. Under-investment, chronic political instability in certain producing countries, have a lot to do with it.
Little chance of increased production
The banishment of Russia by the West now weighs with all its weight. And to hear the leaders of the alliance, there does not seem to be any question of compensating for this loss and of doing without Russia.
In the press of his country, Kuwait, the new secretary general of OPEC, Haitham al-Ghais, considers that Moscow’s membership of the alliance is essential to the success of the production agreement. There is no competition with “ce big, main and very influential player on the energy map “. For several analysts, if there is an increase in production, it will therefore be modest.
On oil price hikes, Haitham al-Ghais added: “ For my part, I continue to emphasize that the recent rise in oil prices is not only linked to developments between Russia and Ukraine […] All data confirms that prices began to increase gradually and cumulatively, before the outbreak of events between Russia and Ukraine, due to the prevailing impression in the markets that there is a shortage of reserves of production capacity, which has become limited to a few countries. »
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