Saudi Arabia, the biggest exporter of crude oil, and China, the top consumer of crude oil, have reaffirmed their partnership in order to maintain the stability of the world crude oil market.
Specifically, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the energy minister for Saudi Arabia, and Zhang Jianhua, the national energy administrator for China, reached an agreement on Friday to cooperate in promoting the stability of the world oil market.
The two parties emphasised the economic value of reliable long-term crude supplies to the world market during the online meeting. The ministers also expressed their desire to work together to ensure the energy security of their respective countries.
It's important to note that the new agreement was reached just weeks after Saudi Arabia announced plans to drastically cut its crude oil production. The Saudi and the other members of OPEC+ have agreed to lower crude oil production among themselves. Notably, as a result of the new deal, oil production from OPEC+ will decline by two million barrels per day starting in November.
Following the decision by the OPEC+ alliance to cut back on oil output, Saudi Arabia kept the official selling price of its premium Arab Light grade for Asia constant for November loadings compared to October. Notably, the nation is currently engaged in a charm offensive with its two largest Asian consumers of crude oil, China and India, in an effort to promote "market stability."
Saudi Arabia showed interest in Joining BRICS
In the midst of the current crisis over crude oil production between the United States and Saudi Arabia, the latter has shown its interest in joining BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa).
Saudi Arabia's prime minister, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, declared his nation's ambition to join BRICS. At a meeting with the president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, Mohammed bin Salman declared that his nation is prepared to reorient its involvement away from the US.
The US wanted Saudi Arabia to take its order for crude oil and meet its demands, but the Saudi official clearly denied taking the order from the US. Furthermore, Future Investment Initiative's CEO recently announced that US government officials would not be invited to their upcoming events held at the end of this month.
Saudi Arabia's desire to join BRICS coincides with the country's escalating dispute with the US over oil production. Experts have, however, characterised the action as a setback for Washington's oil-for-security strategy in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Ramaphosa visited Saudi Arabia last week. According to Reuters, the two nations inked agreements and memorandums of understanding during this time that are estimated to be worth $15 billion. In 2023, South Africa is supposed to hold the rotating presidency of the BRICS.
The White House slammed the Saudi and OPEC+ decisions as “shortsighted”
Meanwhile, the US has criticised Saudi Arabia and OPEC+ for their "misguided and short-sighted" decision to cut back on the supply of crude oil. Additionally, the Biden administration has threatened Saudi Arabia with a variety of repercussions, accusing it of working with Russia to suffer a decline in oil production.
OPEC+ countries, however, have criticized the US remark and defended the member countrys' decision to cut production. The members stated that their judgement was driven entirely by technical analysis, not political considerations. In addition, Turkey has charged Saudi Arabia with being bullied by the US. In an interview, Turkey's foreign minister, Mevlüt Avuşolu, criticised the US remark.
"We don’t think it’s right for the US to use it as an element of pressure on Saudi Arabia. Or any other country in this way.” Çavuşoğlu stated.
This story has been published by CoinChapter.com that covers Bitcoin, Ethereum, Stocks, Finance, World Politics, Entertainment and other crypto news. The information contained in this article is for only informational purposes. It does not present any investment advice nor does it serve as a substitute for individual investment.’
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