Saudi minister warns West’s anti-Russia sanctions could cause energy shortages

Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud has cautioned against the effects of the West’s oil sanctions on Russia, saying the restrictive measures could result in a shortage of energy supplies in the future.

Speaking at an industry conference in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, the minister warned that the sanctions targeting Russia could backfire in case of rising demand.

“All these sanctions, embargoes, they all will convolute into one thing and one thing only: lack of energy supplies of all kinds when they’re most needed,” he said. “That is my worry.”

The West – previously Russia’s main energy market – has responded to the almost a year-long war in Ukraine, by targeting Moscow’s energy revenues through a series of sanctions.

Saudi Arabia and Russia are partners in OPEC+, an alliance that includes members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and several others. But, Western bans have led Moscow to muscle in on Riyadh’s regular markets in Asia with cut-rate crude prices and the kingdom to sell more in Europe.

Asked what lessons had been learned from energy market dynamics in 2022, Prince Abdulaziz said the most important one was for the rest of the world to “trust OPEC+”.

OPEC+ agreed last year to cut its production target by 2 million barrels per day, about 2% of world demand, from November until the end of 2023 to support the market.

The market-monitoring committee of the OPEC+ met earlier this week and recommended keeping crude production steady.