Using emergency supplies could be painful, Saudi energy minister

• Prince Abdul-Aziz bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, claimed on Tuesday that certain people were abusing their emergency supplies.
• “It is my duty to make clear that losing emergency stocks may be painful in the months to come,” said minister.
• “We keep hearing you ‘are with us or against us,’ is there any room for ‘we are with the people of Saudi Arabia’?”

Prince Abdul-Aziz bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, claimed on Tuesday that certain people were abusing their emergency supplies, using them to influence markets rather than for their intended use of reducing supply shortages.

“It is my duty to make clear that losing emergency stocks may be painful in the months to come,” the minister said addressing the Future Initiative Investment (FII) conference in Riyadh.

In an effort to lower the high cost of gasoline ahead of the November 8 midterm elections, US President Joe Biden revealed last week that he will sell off the remaining amount of the country’s emergency oil reserve by the end of the year and start replenishing the stockpile.

The world’s most dependable oil supplier, Saudi Arabia, raised its deliveries to Europe in September from 490,000 barrels at the same time last year to 950,000 barrels, he added.

When asked how to restart the US-Saudi energy partnership, the prince responded that Saudi Arabia has decided to be “the more mature” party.

“We keep hearing you ‘are with us or against us,’ is there any room for ‘we are with the people of Saudi Arabia’?”

Since OPEC+ declared a production cut, which was apparently regarded by the White House as Saudi Arabia siding with Russia, relations between the US and the Kingdom have gotten worse.

The Kingdom, the top oil producer in OPEC, refuted the charge and insisted that the move was simply commercial and was made to help stabilize the erratic oil market.

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