/ world today news/ The United Arab Emirates’ energy minister on Monday stood behind an oil alliance with Russia that has helped boost crude oil prices to their highest levels in years as Moscow’s operation in Ukraine roils markets and drives up prices of energy and raw materials to rise.
The minister said that Russia, with its 10 million barrels of oil per day, is an important member of the global energy alliance OPEC+.
“And politics aside, this volume is needed today,” said Suhail al-Mazroui.
“Unless someone is willing to come and bring 10 million barrels, we don’t see anyone else being able to replace Russia,” he said categorically.
Led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, the alliance has the capacity to increase oil production and bring down crude oil prices, which have soared above $100 a barrel.
The United States, European nations, Japan and others are urging Gulf oil producers to do more to help lower prices. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a personal visit this month to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where he raised the issue.
Al-Mazroui described the OPEC+ alliance as one that is here to stay and rejected any suggestion that the UAE would go it alone and increase production unilaterally.
“Staying together, staying focused and not letting politics get in the way of this organization … we always believe that whatever we do as countries when it comes to manufacturing and this work, we always have to stay out politics,” al-Mazrouei added.
The OPEC+ alliance is sticking to its plan to gradually increase oil output based on a deal struck at the height of the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, when producers made deep output cuts to offset a sharp demand for the fuel.
Higher oil prices have been good for oil-producing economies. Despite diversification efforts, the Gulf Arab states continue to rely heavily on energy exports to fuel their economies.
Al-Mazrouei also used his speech at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Forum in Dubai to push for greater investment in oil and gas, even as his country moves to cut emissions within the UAE’s borders and commits to delivering on the pledge is for zero emissions by 2050.
In an apparent criticism of some NATO member policies, the minister said Russia’s war in Ukraine – which he described as a crisis – needed diplomacy to be resolved “not by pouring more weapons into the situation because basically people will be victimized.”
The UAE has defended its policies and statements since the start of the Russian operation, with the country’s foreign minister even traveling to Moscow earlier this month and discussing ways to strengthen ties.
Prices also rose as Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s biggest oil producer, faces continued cross-border attacks from neighboring Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have used drones and missiles to hit the kingdom’s oil facilities. Saudi Arabia has said it will not bear any responsibility for oil shortages due to the attacks.
Despite US condemnation of the Houthis and US-supplied anti-missile systems to Saudi Arabia, relations between the Biden administration and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman remain strained and there has been no direct conversation between the two since the US president took office.
The US State Department’s senior adviser on global energy security, Amos Hochstein, has made multiple recent trips to Saudi Arabia to discuss energy issues. He said higher oil prices were helping Russia recover some of its losses from US sanctions and stressed the need to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian energy supplies, particularly natural gas.
When asked about the Biden administration’s commitment to Gulf Arab allies, he said the commitment remains “steady,” while cautioning that “doesn’t mean we always agree.”
“We are committed. In any attack, we will never say ‘this is your problem, not ours,'” he added.
He declined to publicly call on the OPEC+ alliance to pump more oil, saying he had no specific message for the group ahead of Thursday’s upcoming meeting.
“I think everybody in OPEC is very familiar with the market and they know the shortage that we’re living through right now,” he said in virtual remarks. He was originally supposed to attend in person.
Al-Mazrouei, meanwhile, gave no indication that OPEC producers planned to change course, but noted that “we are in an environment where everyone is saying to increase production.”
“Certainly at this point we need all the resources available,” he added, dismissing efforts to pull back from oil and gas investments.
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