Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is not responsible for rising inflation, the secretary-general of the the influential group of producers Haitham Al-Ghais, said on Wednesday.
Talking to CNBC Al-Ghais pointed to the chronic underinvestment in the oil and gas industry.
“OPEC is not behind this price increase,” he said. “There are other factors beyond OPEC that are really behind the spike we have seen in gas (and) in oil. And again, I think in a nutshell, for me, it is underinvestment — chronic underinvestment.”
Al-Ghais’ comments come in the wake of the decision by the oil producers’ group of OPEC and non-OPEC partners, at their August 3 meeting by announcing plans to add only 100,000 barrels per day from next month.
“This is the harsh reality that people have to wake up to, and policymakers have to wake up to,” Al-Ghais said. “Once that is realized, I think then we can start to think of a solution here. And the solution is very clear. OPEC has a solution: invest, invest, invest.”