KSA urges OPEC+ to increase oil output

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has urged members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and OPEC+ to increase output in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

This was stated in a report released by Saudi Arabia on September 11, 2020.

The report states that Saudi Arabia plans to keep oil production steady despite a recent slump in prices, fearing any bigger output cuts would lead rivals in OPEC to fill the void.

The report says, “If OPEC cuts output further to support prices, other countries will take advantage and produce greater amounts, jeopardising the unity of the OPEC+ group that enacted record supply cuts in April as demand collapsed.”

Petroleum experts have also stated that a global oil demand down by almost ten per cent year-on-year, as many economies are mired in recession and car and airline travel remain depressed.

In March, Russia and Saudi Arabia were locked in a price war, as a dispute over who was to blame for plunging prices of crude oil intensified.

Both were set to cut production in efforts to protect the market, with Saudi Arabia alone set to cut output to 8.5 million barrels a day – the country’s lowest since 2011.