Qatar: Bin Jassim defends OPEC+ decision

Former Prime Minister of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al-Thani has stated: "The price of a barrel of oil should have been more than $250 by now if we were to account for inflation," noting that the producing countries have compelling arguments to respond to those complaining about high energy prices

October 23, 2022 - 16:01

Qatar: Bin Jassim defends OPEC+ decision

Source: World Economic Forum, Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

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Bin Jassim posted in a series of tweets on his Twitter account on Friday: "Some are yelling and complaining about the rise in energy prices and blaming this and that, but our producing countries have many compelling arguments that they can respond with to those who accuse them."

Bin Jassim added: "Those who yell forget the huge taxes they impose on energy derivatives in their countries and do not even talk about reducing or completely raising them for their citizens. They forget the tragedies and economic problems that the producing countries suffered due to the decline of energy prices."

"If we go back to the past three decades, we will find that the prices of most commodities in the world have multiplied several times. For example, gold, the price of an ounce was $250, and today it is nearly $2,000, meaning the price has doubled eight times. Do they criticise the gold or silver-producing countries, for example?"

He added: "When producing countries complain, they say this is the cycle of market economics, and we do not interfere in its movement. If we were to go back to the 1960s and calculate only 2 per cent inflation per year, we would find that the price of a barrel of oil now should have reached more than $250."

The OPEC+ alliance, consisting of the 13 member countries of OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia and its ten partners led by Russia, decided earlier this month to reduce oil production quotas to support declining crude prices.

The cut announced by OPEC+ and its allies is the largest cut by the organisation since the peak of the global pandemic in 2020.

Following the OPEC+ decision, oil prices rose and the cost of a barrel exceeded $90 amid expectations of an increase in prices. The US criticised the move and accused Saudi Arabia of siding with Russia and supporting its war in Ukraine, which Riyadh denied.

Source: Middle East Monitor under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0