Right now, Saudi Arabia is effectively dictating its own rules of the game in the global oil market. This is because Riyadh is pushing the decision to reduce the daily volume of raw material production in some OPEC+ countries. informs The Bloomberg agency cites industry sources.
In early April this year, a number of countries of the OPEC + alliance announced about the decrease in the daily oil production volume. The leaders in this indicator were Russia and Saudi Arabia – the authorities of these states announced a decrease in this indicator by 500 thousand barrels per day. Other countries did the same, including the UAE (-144k per day), Oman (-40k), Kuwait (-128k), Algeria (-48k) and Iraq (-211k). The article explains that the OPEC+ strategy has led to a “shock” in the global commodity market and the maximum increase in oil prices since the beginning of this year.
One thing is for sure: Market control is now in the hands of Saudi Arabia and its allies, with major implications for geopolitics and the global economy. Unexpected OPEC+ cuts have already raised concerns about the resumption of inflation. And these renewed concerns about inflation should only intensify in the months ahead.
April 8, Bloomberg, citing a statement by Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud reportedHe said that after the OPEC+ deal failed in 2020, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince wanted to become the “master of the oil industry” by trying to beat Russia in a “price war”. After OPEC+ failed to reach an oil production deal with Russia, it urged Saudi commodity companies to reach “maximum production capacity” despite the risk of a sharp drop in oil prices.