JEDDAH (Reuters) – The United States does not expect Saudi Arabia to increase oil production immediately and will monitor the results of the next OPEC+ meeting on August 3, a U.S. official told Reuters on Friday. Reuters.
The comments come hours before US President Joe Biden lands in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on a trip meant to redefine US relations with the kingdom, including energy supplies, human rights people and security cooperation are on the agenda.
Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates, holds most of the available capacity in the OPEC+ group, an alliance between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and several other major crude producers including Russia. .
However, the kingdom has repeatedly indicated that it will not act unilaterally.
“Saudi Arabia prefers to manage the market through the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Allied Producers (OPEC+), not unilateral measures,” Ben Cahill, a research fellow at the Center, wrote in a note. strategic and international studies.
“Saudi Energy Minister Abdelaziz bin Salman has consistently stressed the importance of OPEC+ cohesion, including a central role for Russia,” he added.
The United States is keen for Saudi Arabia and its OPEC partners to produce more oil to help bring down the high cost of gasoline and dampen runaway inflation in the United States.
Joe Biden recently said he would not directly pressure Saudi Arabia to increase oil production, but instead intended to champion the idea of increased oil from all countries. of the Gulf.
OPEC+ decided last month to increase its production targets by 648,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August, ending record production cuts decided at the height of the pandemic to counter the collapse in demand.
(Reporting Jarrett Renshaw, Maha El Dahan and Aziz El Yakoubi; French version Elena Vardon, editing by Kate Entringer)
click here for restrictions
©2022 Reuters
