The uprising of the "mature guys": the kingdom imputed the US to manipulate the oil market
Saudi Arabia's energy minister has criticized claims of dumping "emergency reserves" of oil on the world market as an attempt to "manipulate the markets" in Riyadh's latest apparent volley in its quarrel with Washington over oil output, France- Press (AFP).
“People are depleting their emergency reserves, using them as a mechanism to manipulate the markets when their main purpose was to alleviate the lack of supply,” Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman al-Saud said at an investor conference in the Saudi capital .
“However, it is my deepest duty to let the world know that the loss of emergency supplies could become painful in the coming months,”
The Saudi energy chief did not mention the United States in his comments about the reopening of emergency oil reserves, but last week President Joe Biden announced that he would put 15 million barrels on the market, a record volume of black gold from US strategic reserves, AFP notes.
The White House's announcement follows a decision by the expanded format of the OPEC+ oil cartel, which Riyadh co-leads with Moscow, to cut oil production by two million barrels per day from November.
The OPEC+ move drew sharp criticism from Washington, where it was said that it was tantamount to "joining Saudi Arabia with Russia in the war in Ukraine."
Prince Abdulaziz earlier on Tuesday opposed this assessment from the American side.
"I keep listening: are you with us or against us?" he said to the applause of the participants of the sixth summit of the Future Investment Initiative (FII) in Riyadh.
Asked about the restoration of the longstanding partnership between Riyadh and Washington, the prince said:
"I think we Saudi Arabia have decided to be more mature guys."
President Joe Biden previously warned that Saudi Arabia would face "some repercussions" after OPEC+ on October 5 announced the biggest cut in oil production since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The decision of the Gulf monarchies, led by Saudi Arabia, to cut oil production ahead of the US midterm elections has put Washington at the center of a public spat with Riyadh, leaving Biden "humiliated" after his visit to the kingdom in July this year. The move fueled anti-Saudi sentiment among Democrats on Capitol Hill, which has already resulted in threats to change the two countries' longstanding security partnership.