Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz said that the OPEC Plus agreement saved the global oil industry, stressing that this market was only managed by understandings and could not be dependent on the concept of market freedom.
In a forum organized by the Ministry of Finance on the challenges of global energy markets, the minister noted that OPEC Plus’ commitment to the recent agreement was the strongest compared to previous agreements.
Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that has a high capacity to supply any shortage in the global energy sectors. The Kingdom enjoys great flexibility in production processes and the entire supply and transport chains, in addition to its long experience in the oil sector.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz added that at the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, the Kingdom’s opinion was different from all states during OPEC meetings, adding that the oil bloc members did not reach an agreement over the necessary actions at that time.
“We believe in correcting matters and taking early measures to contain problems, because this would lead to a better treatment of the situation,” he said.
The minister emphasized that the current OPEC Plus agreement was a precedent in the organization’s history, because no agreement reached before has lasted more than a year.
“We do not target specific prices for oil, and we have never mentioned that. We seek the stability of global oil markets,” he said, adding: “There is no value for high prices if they would lead to a sharp decline later.”
Prince Abdulaziz also touched on the energy mix program, under the leadership of the Crown Prince, which aims to use renewable energy and increase demand for gas.
In this regard, he stressed that Saudi Arabia was seeking to use renewable energy with more reliance on gas to provide electricity, saying: “We also have a program for the Gulf electrical linkage, which will export energy to Iraq, Egypt and Jordan, and perhaps we will reach Europe.”
