DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates on Thursday reaffirmed its committment to OPEC+ alliance agreements, a day after an envoy said it would urge the oil cartel to boost output.
“The UAE is committed to the OPEC+ agreement and its existing monthly production adjustment mechanism,” Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei wrote on Twitter.
“The UAE believes in the value OPEC+ brings to the oil market,” he added.
At last week’s OPEC+ meeting, the 13 members of the Saudi-led OPEC group and their 10 allies, including Russia, agreed to hold firm on plans to stick to existing output targets through April.
A surge in prices and supply fears following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have led to calls for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to increase output.
The OPEC+ group plans to boost production by just 400,000 barrels a day in April, the same pace as in recent months.
The UAE ambassador to Washington, Yousef al-Otaiba, had said on Wednesday that his country favoured “production increases and will be encouraging OPEC to consider higher production levels”.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck on Tuesday issued an “urgent appeal” to OPEC oil producers to ramp up output “to create relief on the market”.
Oil producing countries have an interest in acting in coordination – both within Saudi-led OPEC and the Russia-led extended alliance – to avoid a price war and keep control over the market.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq have an estimated combined reserve capacity of 2.5 million to three million barrels per day.
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