New York, USA (CNN)–The UAE ambassador to Washington, Yousef Al-Otaiba, told CNN, Wednesday, that the country wants to increase oil production and will encourage the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to increase supplies.
The statements of the Emirati ambassador pushed oil prices down, Wednesday, as the price of US oil fell 12% to less than 109 dollars a barrel and Brent crude, which is the global benchmark for oil prices, fell by 13% to $111 a barrel, the largest drop in a single day since Nearly two years.
If the UAE persuades its partners to increase supply, it will be a major shift following the OPEC + agreement at its meeting last week to stick to the plan to gradually add oil to the market, defiantly increasing pressures for advanced economies to do more to ease prices.
The UAE Ministry of Energy did not issue any statement, but Al-Otaiba’s comments, which were then published on Twitter by the country’s embassy in Washington, are the first hint that a country in OPEC may be ready to prevent oil prices from rising out of control.
“The UAE has been a reliable and responsible supplier of energy to global markets for more than 50 years, and believes that stability in energy markets is critical to the global economy,” Otaiba said.
