UAE says West must be 'reasonable' regarding OPEC+
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The United Arab Emirates underlines its commitment to OPEC+ and calls for keeping politics out.
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UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei
The UAE asked Western nations on Monday to be "reasonable" in their expectations, reiterating its commitment to the global OPEC+ energy alliance.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, and its ten partners, including Russia, have formed an "alliance to stay."
During an emergency forum in Dubai, the UAE's Energy Minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei said, "We always believe that whatever we do as countries when it comes to production and this work, it needs always to stay out of politics."
OPEC has called for increased output since the start of the military operation in Ukraine last month.
However, the OPEC+ group intends to increase output by only 400,000 barrels per day in April, the same as in previous months.
According to AlMazrouei, "Russia is an important member and, leaving the politics aside, that volume... -is needed today, and unless someone is willing to come and bring 10 million barrels, we don't see that... someone can substitute Russia."
Read more: 10 years to replace Russian energy supply: Ex-Texas oil regulator
Despite rising requests to raise output to calm the turbulent oil market, Al-Mazrouei said it would be "difficult", with nations "facing a natural decline reduction," owing in large part to declining long-term investments in the oil business.
Al-Mazrouei added that last year in Scotland at the COP26 conference on climate change, "all of the producers felt that they are uninvited and unwanted and felt like they are in the corner, but now we are on stage and they want us to produce more so we are again superheroes," adding that "it's not going to work like that."
The Energy Minister called for more "reasonable" approaches to the energy transition and more long-term investments.
"If Europe needs gas and needs gas quickly... they need to sit with the producers and they need to identify the requirements, and they need to be reasonable and realistic," he said.
Regarding the ongoing war in Ukraine, Al-Mazrouei advocated for a "diplomatic" solution, warning of the repercussions on other essentials like food.
