Saudi Arabia says ‘no fault’ as global oil market is scarce

Saudi Arabia said on March 21 that it was not responsible for supply shortages in the global energy market, and warned of Houthi missile attacks on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. supply will be disrupted.

The energy market fluctuated sharply after Russia launched a military campaign in Ukraine. Pressure on Saudi Arabia to increase crude oil production is also increasing, as the Middle Eastern country is the world’s largest oil exporter.

But up to this point, both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have rejected the US and UK’s proposals to increase production and export output to help calm the hot rise of oil prices. Closing the session on March 21, the North Sea Brent oil price was trading at 115.62 USD/barrel.

In a statement published in the official media on March 21, the Saudi government affirmed that it will not bear any responsibility for the shortage of petroleum supply in the global market when there are still conflicts. Houthi attacks on its oil facilities. A day earlier, the Houthis carried out a series of missile and drone attacks against a number of Saudi oil facilities, including the oil distribution center in Jeddah, setting fire to a oil tank.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are increasingly dissatisfied with the lack of support of their allies, especially the United States, in their confrontation with the Houthis. The two countries have asked US President Joe Biden to put the Houthis back on the list of terrorist organizations after he removed the Houthis from this list when he took office at the White House. Biden also stopped supporting the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, and stopped selling and transferring weapons to Saudi Arabia.

In a statement on March 21, the Riyadh government also accused Iran of supplying missiles to the Houthis, saying that the attacks carried out by this force would affect the capacity of crude oil production as well as the ability to complete the project. commitments, oil supply contracts of Saudi Arabia with foreign partners.

“That action has serious consequences for the upstream and downstream sectors of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry as well as the security and stability of energy supplies for global markets…Plus The international community needs to have a responsibility to protect energy supplies and resolutely oppose the Houthis,” the statement said.

The Houthis, which have been opposed to the Riyadh-led military coalition in Yemen since 2015, have carried out a number of missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia and more recently the UAE – as well as the United Arab Emirates. is a leading producer and exporter of crude oil in the Gulf. According to David Roberts, a Middle East expert at King’s College London, Saudi Arabia’s latest statement is a way for it to put pressure on the Houthis, with the message that containing this force is useful. , helping to stabilize oil prices and normalize international supply.

Saudi Arabia’s warning comes at a time when global energy supplies continue to be tense due to the risk of retaliation and mutual sanctions between Russia and the West. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on March 21 that the price of oil could rise to 300 USD/barrel, even if the oil price could reach 500 USD/barrel if the West gave up Russian oil.

The Russian official issued this warning in the context of the West considering sanctions on Russia’s energy industry. At the meeting with the foreign ministers of the European Union (EU) countries on February 21 in Brussels (Belgium), the representatives of the countries discussed the imposition of an embargo on Russian crude oil, which is part of the fifth round of sanctions. EU to pressure Russia to stop its military operations in Ukraine. However, within the EU, there is still no consensus on this issue.

Poland, along with three Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, support the embargo. But Germany, the Netherlands and some other members think that it is not possible to punish Russian oil soon, because the EU will face difficulties. Speaking to reporters on March 21, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the question of an anti-Russian oil ban is not whether Europe wants it or not, but how dependent it is on Russian crude. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stated that Germany is importing quite a lot of Russian oil, as are many other countries and cannot stop importing after just one day.