Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdel Abdulaziz bin Salman told a conference of the G20 group of the world’s largest economies on Friday that ensuring affordable energy supply is key to facilitating a global economic recovery.
“Having affordable, reliable, accessible energy supply is considered a necessity to enable basic services, including health care, and help our efforts in assisting economic recovery,” he said in an opening speech to a video-conference of the G20 energy ministers.
Saudi Arabia is currently the chair of the group.
Riyadh, Moscow and its allies, which make up the informal OPEC+ group, had forged a pact to curb crude production by the equivalent of 10% of global supplies in marathon talks on Thursday and said they wanted others to cut a further 5%.
But efforts to conclude the OPEC+ deal hit the buffers when Mexico refused to sign up in full.
The OPEC+ pact, if Mexico signs up, would see 10 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil removed, with an additional 5 million bpd withdrawn if the United States and others joined. Norway and Canada, both outside OPEC+, have indicated they could cut.
