365NEWSX
365NEWSX
Subscribe

Welcome

Once an American foe, now a friend: OPEC turns 60 - Reuters

Once an American foe, now a friend: OPEC turns 60 - Reuters

Once an American foe, now a friend: OPEC turns 60 - Reuters
Sep 13, 2020 2 mins, 3 secs

Since Saudi Arabia and other Arab OPEC members imposed their famous oil embargo as retribution for U.S.

sanctions while its kingpin, Saudi Arabia, has shown it would rather appease Washington than risk losing U.S.

support, current and former OPEC officials say.

Reuters spoke to eight current and former OPEC officials, representing over a third of the group’s output, as well as analysts, traders and investors to ask how U.S.

sanctions on Iran and Venezuela had affected Saudi Arabia’s influence within OPEC, and whether that had changed the dynamic with Washington.

Oil and other government officials in Iran and Venezuela did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Saudi Arabia has been the leading OPEC producer for decades, giving it the biggest sway over policy, but the sidelining of Iran and Venezuela has only increased its influence.

Iran and Venezuela, which founded OPEC along with Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, had routinely opposed any moves to bring oil prices down in the face of U.S.

The increased dominance of Saudi Arabia within OPEC has also come at a time of higher U.S.

As OPEC gathered in Austria on June 22, Trump wrote: “Hope OPEC will increase output substantially.

Two OPEC officials, who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue, said a Trump intervention on oil prices effectively nudges the organisation to discuss, or even adjust, its production policy.

Oil market watchers including OPEC officials say the irony is that the price rises in 2018 and 2019 were both due mainly to Washington’s sanctions on Iran and Venezuela – policies that slashed some 3 million barrels off daily oil production.

Earlier this year, Trump wanted something new from OPEC: a production cut, to help U.S.

“Just spoke to my friend MBS (Crown Prince) of Saudi Arabia, who spoke with President Putin of Russia, & I expect & hope that they will be cutting back approximately 10 Million Barrels, and maybe substantially more which, if it happens, will be GREAT for the oil & gas industry!” Trump tweeted on April 2.

Graphic: OPEC Crude Output and U.S.

In 2011, when Libyan output was hit by the uprising against Gaddafi, Saudi Arabia tried to convince OPEC to lift production to lower prices.

Iran’s former OPEC governor Hossein Kazempour Ardebili told Reuters in 2018, when OPEC+ had just raised output following pressure from Trump, that both OPEC and the broader group had begun acting against the interests of their smaller members

Summarized by 365NEWSX ROBOTS

RECENT NEWS

SUBSCRIBE

Get monthly updates and free resources.

CONNECT WITH US

© Copyright 2024 365NEWSX - All RIGHTS RESERVED