OPEC: We Do Not Target Oil Prices, IEA Should be ‘Very Careful’

OPEC: We Do Not Target Oil Prices, IEA Should be ‘Very Careful’

The International Energy Agency (IEA) should be "very careful" about discouraging investment in the oil industry, which was vital for global economic growth, announced OPEC Secretary General Haitham al-Ghais.

Ghais warned that such statements could lead to oil market volatility in the future.

He said that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, were not targeting oil prices but focusing on market fundamentals.

He warned that finger-pointing and misrepresenting the actions of the oil exporters and their allies was "counter-productive."

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol has been critical of the OPEC+ group's surprise announcement of production cuts of 1.66 million barrels per day (bpd) from May until the end of 2023.

In an interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday, Birol said OPEC should be careful about pushing oil prices up as that would translate into a weaker global economy.

If anything would lead to future volatility, it is the IEA's repeated calls to stop investing in oil, knowing that all data-driven outlooks envisage the need for more of this precious commodity to fuel global economic growth and prosperity in the decades to come, especially in the developing world, added Birol.

On Thursday, Ghais said blaming oil for