JEDDAH — Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman said that OPEC+ would increase production “if demand is there.”

He indicated that it is too early to say what a new OPEC+ agreement might look like given the market uncertainties.

In an interview to Financial Times on Sunday, Prince Abdulaziz said Riyadh was hoping to work out an agreement with OPEC+, which includes Russia.

He stressed that “the world should appreciate the value of alliance of producers”. He blamed the hike in oil prices on a lack of global refining capacity and taxes.

“The world lost around four million barrels of the refining capacity, 2.7 million of since the beginning of COVID-19 outbreak.”

Prince Abdulaziz said politics should be kept out of OPEC+.

“An alliance would be necessary to implement any “orderly adjustments” in the future amid uncertainty due to the COVID-19-induced lockdowns in China, global growth and supply chains.”

Governments should encourage the industry to invest in hydrocarbons even as nations switch to cleaner energy sources to ease bottlenecks in production and refinery capacity, the minister stated. — Agencies