Worldwide Network Report The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC oil-producing nations like Russia decided on the fifth of this month to significantly reduce oil production from November, angering the United States. OPEC+ is a mechanism made up of OPEC members led by Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC oil-producing nations like Russia. In light of this, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement on August 18 showing its support for Saudi Arabia.
In a statement that was released on the 18th at local time, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “Pakistan expresses its sympathy with the Saudi leadership as the relevant parties make a statement against Saudi Arabia in the context of pertinent decisions taken by OPEC+.”
The statement said, “Pakistan promotes a constructive approach to pertinent problems based on participation and mutual respect.” We declare once more how strong and enduring our ties to Saudi Arabia are.
In an earlier report, the Xinhua News Agency stated that the “OPEC+” mechanism resolved on October 5 to drastically cut output beginning in November and to cut monthly production by 2 million barrels per day based on August production. Before the decision was made, U.S. government officials requested Saudi Arabia and other major oil producers to postpone the implementation of production cuts for a month, but the Saudis “outrightly” refused, according to a previous Wall Street Journal report citing people familiar with the situation. On the 13th of this month, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement indicating that the United States had “recommended” the Saudi side delay the execution of the production cut plan. In the course of ongoing discussions with the U.S. government, the Saudi government “represented that all economic analysis shows that delaying the implementation of the ‘OPEC+’ (production cut) decision by one month as recommended would have a negative impact on the economy,” according to the statement.
The United States started to respond soon after the remark was made. The United States gave Saudi Arabia an analytical report during the negotiating process, warning that a rapid drop in oil output may hurt the global economy, according to John Kirby, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council. According to Agency France-Presse, Kirby “unusually” used “heavy words” when addressing Saudi Arabia, accusing it of supporting a drastic production cut despite knowing that Russia would provide “spiritual and military support,” as well as knowing that oil production cuts “may increase Russia’s income and affect the effect of sanctions (on Russia)”. The Saudi foreign ministry responded to the US claim that Saudi Arabia is “siding with Russia” by backing the drastic output decrease by declaring that it is “totally opposed” and that the decision was “solely based on economic concerns.” According to the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the decision to considerably lower production was made with the agreement of both OPEC and non-OPEC oil-producing nations and was made with the intention of reducing market volatility. According to the Associated Press, the Saudi Foreign Ministry made the aforementioned “rarely lengthy” statement against the US to demonstrate the amount of hostility existing between the two nations.
