Saudi Arabian Energy Minister: OPEC+ alliance has a ‘great deal of rationale’

Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman started off his keynote discussion at Russia Energy Week on Wednesday by lauding the OPEC+ agreement, as well as the strategic energy alliance between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

“We are in alliance because there is a great deal of rationale in our alliance,” said Prince Abdulaziz.

Energy leaders from across the world have convened at Moscow for a week to discuss matters ranging from the global energy outlook to challenges in the development of renewable energy.

“We have now gone beyond that temporary arrangement and gone to a long-lasting relationship between OPEC and non-OPEC countries,” Prince Abdulaziz said. “We are mindful of our responsibilities to our consumers,” he added.

When asked as to what effect the September 14 attacks had on Saudi Arabia, Prince Abdulaziz pointed to the numbers that were given out at a press conference last week.

“The best way to verify [our numbers] is to reach out to our customers, I’m sure that all of them are satisfied with our performance. I would say that Saudi Arabia is a consumer orientated country even under this stressful environment,” he said.

Speaking alongside Prince Abdulaziz, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said market predictability at the moment was very difficult to grasp.

“We lack predictability on the oil market and it is very difficult to make any forecasts. That is why I would assess the current situation as a very difficult situation and together we need to be focused on coordination of our efforts, we need to exchange information, joint forecasts, take decisions if necessary, to make sure that the possible upcoming volatility can be mitigated by joint action,” said Novak.

When asked about how the market will behave in the winter season, Novak also said it was difficult to foresee.

Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, thanked Prince Abdulaziz and Novak “for doing a lot for this alliance between Russia and Saudi Arabia to be an example and a stability factor to the global energy market.”

Dmitriev added that events following the Saudi Aramco attacks in September showed that the OPEC+ framework was able to respond and stabilize the market. “[It] can respond to turbalance and to the fluctuations of the market,” he said.