Al Mazrouei defends OPEC cut as technical, calls for investments

Al Mazrouei defends OPEC cut as technical, calls for investments

The United Arab Emirates energy minister has defended OPEC+’s decision to cut production as a purely technical move, denying talk of discord and politics.

Minister of Energy and Infrastructure Suhail Al Mazrouei said the UAE “truly trusts and believes” in the decision from OPEC+. The group announced a 2 million barrel per day production cut at a meeting in early October. The reduction, which will be closer to 1.1mn bpd after taking out existing under performance, is due to begin in November.

Al Mazrouei stressed that the decision to cut had been based on an analysis of supply and demand factors. “We are in the same place we were in October 2021, or January before the crisis,” he said, in reference to pricing.