Dubai, UAE— The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has led the Arab world in expressing solidarity with Saudi Arabia in the face of US criticism of the kingdom’s decision to cut oil production.
The UAE’s ministry of foreign affairs and international cooperation has affirmed its support for the Saudi government. It said that the OPEC+ decision was vote-based collective.
The statement said: “In its capacity as member of the cartel and partner of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the UAE stresses the technological nature of OPEC+ decision and rejects statements pushing towards politicizing it.”
Toeing the UAE’s line, Bahrain has expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia, rejecting statements pushing towards politicizing OPEC+ decision on oil production cuts.
In a statement, the Bahraini ministry of foreign affairs lauded the pivotal role of Saudi Arabia to guarantee world energy security and oil market stability in what achieves the interests of producers and consumers alike and enhances economic growth and prosperity in the world.
Algeria too has come out in support of Saudi Arabia. The country’s Energy Minister Mohamed Arkab said today the recent OPEC + decision to reduce production is a “purely technical” response to the international economic circumstances and that OPEC and allies are working to achieve a balance between supply and demand.
“The October 5 agreement, which was unanimously ratified by the countries of the Declaration of Cooperation in Vienna, is a purely technical response based on purely economic considerations,” Arkab said in a statement carried by the Algerian Press Service (APS).
He pointed out that “OPEC +, like everyone around the world, is preoccupied with the exacerbation of uncertainty about the global economy and the decline in demand for oil, so we decided, as he said, to revert to the level of supply that was decided last May.”
Oman, too, has supported Saudi Arabia and OPEC’s decision to cut oil output.
The Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it supports the kingdom’s decision, “ which is based on economic considerations as well as supply and demand, adding that this decision aims to achieve the desired stability of the global market, with consensus among all member states.”