Decision took into account balance of supply and demand and was aimed at curbing market volatility, says Saudi FM
\nCAIRO
\nSaudi Arabia rejected as \u201cnot based on facts\u201d criticism of an OPEC+ decision last week to cut its oil production target despite US objections, and said Washington\u2019s request to delay the cut by a month would have had negative economic consequences.
\nThe OPEC+ decision was adopted through consensus, took into account the balance of supply and demand and was aimed at curbing market volatility, the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
\nUS President Joe Biden pledged earlier this week that \u201cthere will be consequences\u201d for US relations with Saudi Arabia after OPEC+ said last week it would cut its oil production target by 2 million barrels per day.
\nOPEC+, the producer group comprising the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) plus allies including Russia, announced its new production target after weeks of lobbying by US officials against such a move.
\nThe OPEC+ cut has raised concerns in Washington about the possibility of higher gasoline prices ahead of the November US midterm elections, with the Democrats trying to retain their control of the House of Representatives and Senate.
\nThe Saudi foreign ministry statement on Thursday referred to consultations with the United States prior to the Oct. 5 OPEC+ meeting in which it was asked to delay the cuts by a month.
\n\u201cThe Kingdom clarified through its continuous consultations with the US administration that all economic analyses indicate that postponing the OPEC+ decision for a month, according to what has been suggested would have had negative economic consequences,\u201d the Saudi foreign ministry statement said.
\nThe United States accused Saudi Arabia of kowtowing to Moscow, which objects to a Western cap on the price of Russian oil in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
\nThe Saudi foreign ministry statement, quoting an unnamed official, stressed the \u201cpurely economic context\u201d of the oil cut.
\nIt also said the kingdom views its relationship with the United States as a \u201cstrategic one\u201d and stressed the importance of mutual respect.
\nThe Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) issued a statement in support of Saudi Arabia\u2019s comments praising the kingdom\u2019s efforts to protect the market from volatility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Decision took into account balance of supply and demand and was aimed at curbing market volatility, says Saudi FM CAIRO Saudi Arabia rejected as \u201cnot based on facts\u201d criticism of an OPEC+ decision last week to cut its oil production target despite US objections, and said Washington\u2019s request to delay the cut by a month […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289089,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1136,7204,501],"class_list":{"0":"post-289063","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-economic","9":"tag-opec","10":"tag-saudi-arabia"},"yoast_head":"\n