Boris Johnson calls on Saudi Arabia to increase oil production – The Peninsula

Boris Johnson calls on Saudi Arabia to increase oil production – The Peninsula

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged Saudi Arabia to ramp up oil production, seeking to cool record fuel prices in an echo of comments last week from President Joe Biden.

"There may be some question about quite how much more the Saudis could pump out at this particular moment,” Johnson told the House of Commons on Monday. Nonetheless, "they need to produce more oil -- no question.”

Last week, Biden said he hoped key Persian Gulf producers would ramp up output as he prepared for a trip this month to Saudi Arabia, which leads the OPEC+ alliance.

Crude prices remain above $110 a barrel as supplies fail to keep pace with a post-pandemic rebound in demand, squeezing consumers and threatening to tip the global economy into recession.

Global oil markets have also been roiled by plans to sanction Russia’s energy trade over its invasion of Ukraine, which could result in the biggest supply disruption in decades, according to the International Energy Agency.

"There’s no doubt that we are going to need a lot more OPEC+ oil,” Johnson said, referring to the coalition between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers.

OPEC+ has already agreed to accelerate its planned output hikes this summer, though investment