Arab oil may be the key to easing soaring prices

Arab oil may be the key to easing soaring prices
FILE PHOTO: A crude oil tanker is seen at Qingdao Port, Shandong province, China, April 21, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo

When Russia invaded Ukraine, the price of oil shot up. Since then, countries have been trying to get that price under control so the rest of the world can buy oil like usual again and not pay a surcharge on our Uber trips. Many countries have tapped into their own oil reserves to try and ease the oil prices within their borders, and they’ve also asked OPEC+ to help out by boosting production. But OPEC+ has said no because it doesn’t get into geopolitics, especially when they don’t see how it’s currently affecting supply.

On Sunday, the Japanese Foreign Minister officially asked the head of UAE state energy firm Adnoc to boost oil production so that the price would go back down, to which they agreed to help. But the UAE government hasn’t yet said anything.

Key comments:

Japan “would like the UAE to contribute to the stabilization of the global crude oil market by further supplying crude oil and securing production capacity,” according to a statement released by the Japanese Foreign Ministry. Adnoc’s head “expressed strong desire to support Japan including through the stabilization of the global crude oil market,” the statement said.

“Substantial new investment is required to meet demand growth, against a broader decline in upstream investment across the industry globally,” Saudi Aramco said in a statement on Sunday.

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