On Wednesday, October 5, a video went viral on social media wherein the Saudi Arabia Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud is seen snapping at Reuters reporter Alex Lawler and refusing to answer his questions. The energy minister was unhappy over reports published by the news agency which had hinted that Saudi Arabia and Russia were colluding to fix global oil prices.
NOW – Saudi Energy energy minister refuses to answer questions from #Reuters at OPEC+ press conference. pic.twitter.com/Kyi5a5bWur
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) October 5, 2022
The footage is purportedly from a press conference conducted after OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) and non-OPEC partners, known as OPEC+, met in Vienna on Wednesday and decided to impose significant cuts in oil production. In the video, the Saudi minister lambasted the news agency for relying on anonymous sources in the news reports rather than an official spokesman.
During the press conference, when Reuters reporter Alex Lawler introduced himself and was about to ask his question to Al Saud saying that he has two questions, the energy minister intervened and proceeded to tell the reporter that he would not answer him because the agency published the wrong reports. The minister caused Reuters of relying on anonymous sources rather than official versions.
“You have got it wrong twice,” Prince Abdulaziz said, in reference to a Reuters article claiming that Saudi Arabia and Russia were targeting a US$100 per barrel price for oil. “You [Reuters] did not do a proper job,” he said, adding he had spent time speaking with a journalist to clarify the story, despite that the agency didn’t retract the story and instead published another report with the same claim.
“If you have questions, direct it to others, but not me,” Prince Abdulaziz said, adding, “I’m not talking to Reuters, until you respect the source, which is the energy minister, on behalf of the Saudi government.”
OPEC agree to impose deep oil production cuts
On Wednesday, OPEC and its allies led by Russia agreed to impose substantial output cutbacks in order to encourage a recovery in petroleum prices, despite appeals from the United States to pump more to boost the global economy.
OPEC countries agreed during their first face-to-face meeting in Vienna since 2020 to cut output by 2 million barrels per day beginning in November.
Notably, in order to keep international oil prices at desirable levels, OPEC enforces output quotas on its member countries. This assures that there is no surplus supply of oil in the market, which might cause prices to fall. Although OPEC professes to be a modest force for market stabilisation rather than an anti-competitive cartel.
A year and a half ago, when the crude oil global price hit a low of $19 per barrel, the OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) decided to cut oil production to boost prices up. It’s simple demand and supply matrix. Owing to OPEC’s production cut decision the entire world is now facing a supply deficit as well as spurred demand which manifested, as OPEC desired, in October 2021, as Brent crude oil reached a 3-year high of over $85 a barrel. OPEC and its allies led by Russia have decided to gradually withdraw the supply cut only from 2022, eradicating any hope of immediate relief from inflation in fuel costs worldwide.
