Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih yesterday said that he does not influence oil prices, just two days after US President Donald Trump called on OPEC to bring down the cost of fuel.
“I do not influence prices,” al-Falih told reporters in Algiers, ahead of a meeting of OPEC ministers and allies including Russia to discuss developments in oil markets.
Benchmark Brent oil reached US$80 a barrel this month, prompting Trump to again call on OPEC to lower prices.
“We protect the countries of the Middle East, they would not be safe for very long without us, and yet they continue to push for higher and higher oil prices! We will remember. The OPEC monopoly must get prices down now!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Iranian Minister of Oil Bijan Zanganeh said he hoped that decisions taken by the OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial committee would not be affected by Trump’s tweets on oil producers.
“I hope [Trump’s] threats will not scare my OPEC colleagues and encourage them to carry out America’s orders,” Zanganeh was quoted as saying by the Iranian Ministry of Oil’s SHANA news Web site.
The panel of ministers from OPEC and allied oil producers meeting yesterday was unlikely to recommend a further increase in crude oil production from that agreed in June, five OPEC and non-OPEC sources told reporters on Sunday.
LOCAL PRICES
In related news, domestic gasoline and diesel prices are to remain unchanged this week from last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced in Taipei yesterday.
The announcement came as domestic fuel prices hover at their highest levels in four years on the back of rising crude oil prices, amid market concerns that US sanctions could affect Iranian oil exports.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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