Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said that US President Joe Biden did not pressure Riyadh to increase oil production, highlighting his country’s desire to “maintain market stability.”
In an interview with CNN, Al-Jubeir said when asked if Biden asked Saudi Arabia to increase oil production in the hope that it would lower fuel prices in the United States: “Not exactly, because Mr. President knows that the issue of energy concerns supply and demand. This is a matter of market balance. Saudi Arabia is committed to ensuring stability in the oil markets. The US government knows this.”
He continued: “The problem of rising fuel prices that we have been seeing lately is actually related to geopolitical and psychological factors more than to underlying supply and demand. refining capacity than a shortage of crude oil.”
Regarding Saudi Arabia’s willingness to increase oil production, Al-Jubeir said: “Saudi Arabia has made it clear over the past decades that it is committed to market stability and that it looks at the fundamentals of supply and demand and that it works within OPEC and now within OPEC+ to ensure that markets are adequately supplied with crude oil.”
He added: “Saudi Arabia has significantly increased its oil production over the past year in line with market demands, and this is a situation that is constantly being assessed by our Energy Department and experts in the field to determine whether more oil is needed or not. .”
Al Jubeir stressed that “the President (Biden) is not pushing us on this issue and he understands that Saudi Arabia is committed to maintaining stability in the markets. The President did not come here to put pressure on Saudi Arabia. to meet with one of America’s most important allies in the world and in the region. “We face common challenges that we need to work together to overcome.”
And the US Bloomberg agency, citing informed sources, reported that Biden, who held talks on Friday with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman, and today, Saturday, will take part in a meeting with the leaders of the Persian Gulf and Arab countries, will leave Middle East without an immediate announcement of an increase in oil supplies.
Before visiting the region, Biden said that the Saudi authorities are working with the US administration to increase oil supplies to the world market and reduce oil prices.
Source: CNN