OPEC Chief Pushes Back On IEA's Criticism Of Cuts

OPEC Secretary-General Haitham al-Ghais rejected the criticism by IEA that voluntary oil production cuts by several OPEC+ states would aggravate inflation and cause heightened economic uncertainty.

• This is not the first time the IEA has criticized OPEC and OPEC+. OPEC’s more accurate forecasts and decisions prove to be the correct ones. A very recent example is the October decision last year, when we recognized the uncertainty surrounding the global economic and oil market outlooks and the impact of this on market fundamentals. The unanimous decision to collectively adjust production by 2mbpd was a proactive and effective response”, al-Ghais said.
• He also clarified that the output cut decision in April was not a decision taken by OPEC+ but rather several individual voluntary production adjustments announced by some OPEC member countries and other countries participating in the Declaration of Cooperation (DOC).