8 hours ago
The oil-producing countries in the OPEC Plus alliance, led by Saudi Arabia, agreed to increase production following the European Union announced a major ban on supplies of Russian crude.
The move comes to control the rise in oil prices and to pave the way for US President Joe Biden’s upcoming visit to Riyadh.
The OPEC Plus alliance agreed to raise production to reach 648 thousand barrels per day during the month of July, or the equivalent of seven percent of global demand, and similarly during the month of August, instead of the previously scheduled amount of 432,000 barrels per day. .
And Archyde.com news agency reported that this increase reflects the desire of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries, which are members of OPEC, to deal with the shortage in the volume of oil production, following months of pressure from the West.
On Monday, European Union leaders agreed to ban more than two-thirds of Russian oil imports, while Britain said it plans to phase out Russian crude imports by the end of this year.
The price of a barrel of oil rose to $117, and analysts say that the real increase in production will be unimportant because most OPEC members, with the exception of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are providing their maximum production.
Earlier this year, the price of oil approached its highest level since 2008, which is $147 a barrel.
And OPEC Plus is an alliance that includes members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other oil countries such as Russia, whose production decreased by one million barrels per day, in the wake of Western sanctions on Moscow due to the invasion of Ukraine.
According to Archyde.com, US diplomats worked for several weeks to organize Biden’s first visit to Riyadh, following two years of tense relations between the two countries due to differences over human rights files, the war in Yemen and US arms supplies to the kingdom.
The US intelligence has accused Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of agreeing to the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, a charge the prince denies.
Saudi Arabia and its neighbor the UAE have been frustrated by the Biden administration’s opposition to the military campaign in Yemen and the failure to address Gulf concerns regarding Iran’s missile program and Tehran’s regional proxies.
With the outbreak of the Ukraine war and a limited crude oil market, the US administration sought more supplies from Gulf allies such as Saudi Arabia, as well as from Iran, whose production was restricted by US sanctions that might be lifted if a nuclear deal was reached, and Venezuela as well. facing US sanctions.
