The United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday it would urge fellow states in the OPEC oil producers to boost output after prices surged following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We favor production increases and will be encouraging OPEC to consider higher production levels,” UAE ambassador to Washington Yousef al-Otaiba said, in a statement obtained by AFP.
“The UAE has been a reliable and responsible supplier of energy to global markets for more than 50 years, and believes that stability in energy markets is critical to the global economy,” the statement said.
Russia is the world’s second-largest oil producer behind OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia.
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced a ban on US imports of Russian oil and gas, while Britain said it would phase out crude imports from the country by the end of this year.
Brent had spiked to $139 on Monday — about $8 short of an all-time record — in expectation of the US embargo.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a press conference Wednesday that “it is an important thing to stabilize global energy markets, to make sure that there remains an abundant supply of energy around the world.”
Gulf countries have an interest in acting in coordination — both within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, and with Russia-led allies in the OPEC+ group — to avoid a price war and keep control over the market.
US media outlets have raised the possibility of an official visit to Riyadh, which is close to both Washington and Moscow, to convince it to pump more crude.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Wednesday called on the entire G7 to ban Russia oil imports, saying the world’s leading economies should “go further and faster” in punishing Moscow and President Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck a day earlier issued an “urgent appeal” to OPEC oil producers to ramp up output amid supply fears due to the Ukraine crisis.
Habeck called on top oil producing nations to “increase production in order to create relief on the market”.