Saudi Energy Minister Threatens More Oil Cuts: ‘We Always Remain Ready to Intervene’

Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman asserted Monday his country and other OPEC+ member nations “remain ready to intervene” and again cut oil production if they deem it necessary – a rebuke of a report in the Wall Street Journal claiming the oil cartel was preparing to increase supply.

The Saudi government has faced heavy criticism from the administration of leftist President Joe Biden for supporting OPEC+ oil cuts, particularly the dramatic, 2-million-barrel-a-day cut announced in early October, raising gasoline prices in America immediately before the scheduled midterm elections. Biden officials, prominently Secretary of State Antony Blinken, accused the Saudis of helping Russia fund its eight-year-old invasion of Ukraine by voting to cut production, noting that Russia is a member of OPEC+.

That line of attack was significantly weakened by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who issued a statement of support and gratitude to the Saudi government for its role in a prisoner swap deal shortly after the oil production cut.

Blinken responded to Saudi Arabia’s overt support for Ukraine by claiming that it did not compensate for increasing oil prices. – READ MORE