Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs responds to criticism over OPEC+ supply cut

In an interview on CNN’s Connect the World with Becky Anderson, Saudi Arabian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir said his country partnered with Russia to slash oil production in order to stabilise markets and denied that there were political motives behind the decision.

Al-Jubeir, who is also the country’s climate minister, said the production cut was made to avoid major swings in the price of oil, which can affect consumers worldwide, and pointed to the fact that the price of oil has gone down since the reduction was announced last week. “Saudi Arabia is not siding with Russia,” he told Anderson. “Saudi Arabia is taking the side of trying to ensure the stability of the oil markets.”

He continued, “Saudi Arabia does not politicise oil. We don’t see oil as a weapon. We see oil as our commodity. Our objective is to bring stability to the oil market. And our record is very clear on this not over the past few weeks but over the past decades.”

Key Quotes

al-Jubeir on creating stability in the oil markets:

“Saudi Arabia is not siding with Russia. Saudi Arabia is taking the side of trying to ensure the stability of the oil markets, which benefits consumers and producers alike. We have been doing this for decades. We try to make sure that we don't have erratic swings in prices so that we can have logic when it comes to investments when it comes to lending.”

al-Jubeir on Russia and Ukraine:

“Saudi Arabia has supported the UN resolution with regards to the - after the crisis began between Russia and Ukraine. Saudi Arabia has opposed the acquisition of territory by force. Saudi Arabia has had open lines of communications with both Ukraine and Russia. And we have been able to use those open lines of communications to work out an agreement on the exchange of prisoners of war. This would not have happened had we been viewed as taking sides versus between one side and the other. Saudi Arabia provides humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and continues to do so. And we're looking for ways to try to bring the two sides to the negotiating table to find a resolution and negotiated resolution out of this issue. We don't believe that escalation is beneficial to Europe or beneficial to the world frankly.”

al-Jubeir on the US threat to freeze arm sales to the Kingdom:

“The sale of defensive weapons to Saudi Arabia serves the interests of the U.S. and serves the interests of Saudi Arabia and serves the interests of security and stability in the Middle East. The presence of American forces in the Middle East has been here for many, many decades. They are here to protect the stability and security of the Middle East and the stability and security of the United States.”

al-Jubeir on accusations that Saudi Arabia is politicising oil:

“Saudi Arabia does not politicise oil. We don't see oil as a weapon. We don't - we see oil as a commodity. Our objective is to bring stability to the oil markets. And our record is very clear on this not over the past few weeks but over the past decades. We have always sought to ensure that there are adequate supplies of crude oil to the markets.”

al-Jubeir on oil prices and the global economy:

“Drastic increase in the price of oil or drastic drops in the price of oil are very damaging to the global economy and damaging to consumers everywhere, whether it's in the United States or whether it's in Saudi Arabia.”

al-Juebir on the current state of US-Saudi relations:

“I don't believe this relationship is broken, very far from it. This relationship is very robust. We have almost 80,000 Americans living and working in Saudi Arabia, we have a very strong trade and investment relationship. We work very closely with regards to ensuring our common interests, whether it's to bring peace to Yemen, whether it's to bring peace between the Israelis and Arabs, whether it's to stabilise Afghanistan, whether it's to reintegrate Iraq into the Arab fold. Whether it's to bring stability to the Horn of Africa, stability and peace in Libya, in the G5 countries of the Sahel, whether it's to fight extremism and terrorism, those interests are permanent and those interests are tremendously important to both countries, and to the security stability, not only of the region, but the world.”