DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s energy minister met his counterparts from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iraq and Libya on Monday following U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for lower oil prices and ahead of a meeting next week of OPEC+ oil-producing countries.
Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman held talks with Iraq’s Hayan Abdel-Ghani and Libya’s Khalifa Abdulsadek in Riyadh, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
He and his Libyan counterpart discussed “strengthening joint efforts to support the stability of global energy markets” to serve their mutual interests, SPA reported.
He also discussed cooperation to achieve mutual interests with his Iraqi counterpart, SPA reported.
The Saudi minister also met with UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei in Riyadh for an informal discussion, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.
The Saudi government communications office and UAE energy ministry did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.
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OPEC+, which groups the de facto Saudi-led Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, is due to hold a meeting of its Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) on Feb. 3.
Trump has publicly called on Saudi Arabia and OPEC to lower oil prices. OPEC+ has yet to respond to Trump’s call.
The group already plans to start raising production from April, gradually unwinding output cuts put in place to support prices.
That plan had been delayed several times because of weak demand.
Asked about Trump’s comments, Saudi Economy Minister Faisal al-Ibrahim told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Friday that Saudi Arabia and OPEC were seeking long-term oil market stability.
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