Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman on February 4 warned that Western sanctions imposed on Russia could cause a shortage of energy supplies in the future.
Answering a question on the issue at an energy conference in the capital Riyadh, Abdulaziz bin Salman said: “All the so-called sanctions, embargoes, investment cuts, will come together. into a single consequence, which is the lack of supply of all kinds of energy at a time of great need.”
Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman also said Saudi Arabia is pushing to send to Ukraine liquefied gas (LPG) is commonly used for cooking and heating.
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As the world’s largest crude oil exporter, Saudi Arabia is a pillar in OPEC+ (including 13 OPEC members and oil-producing partners, including Russia).
Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman emphasized that OPEC+ carries out policy issues related to the oil and energy markets, not to engage in political issues.
In the most recent meeting on February 1, OPEC+ agreed to keep the level production cut 2 million bpd today, amid an improving fuel demand outlook in China, the world’s second-largest economy and top global crude importer.
The above cut, equivalent to about 2% of world demand, was agreed to be implemented by OPEC + from November 2022 to the end of 2023 to support the global energy market.
According to information posted on the website of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the conflict between Russia and Ukraine that broke out on February 24, 2022 has not resulted in the loss of oil supplies to the market.
It is not clear how long the impact of sanctions on energy flows and the potential loss of supply will last.
Russia is the world’s third largest oil producer after the United States and Saudi Arabia. In January 2022, Russia’s total oil production was 11.3 million b/d, of which 10 million b/d was crude oil, 960 kb/d condensate and 340 kb/d NGL.
For comparison, total US oil production is 17.6 million bpd while Saudi Arabia’s is 12 million bpd.
(VNA/Vietnam+)