The United Arab Emirates said it will call on its fellow OPEC+ members to boost oil output faster, a dramatic U-turn that could set the country against fellow members of the alliance led by Saudi Arabia and Russia.
¡°We favor production increases and will be encouraging OPEC to consider higher production levels,¡± Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE¡¯s Ambassador to Washington, said in a statement on Wednesday, which was first reported by the Financial Times.
A few hours later, Energy Minister Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei appeared to temper the message on Twitter, saying the UAE is committed to the OPEC+ agreement. Already signs had emerged that the ambassador¡¯s proposal would run into opposition, as Iraq¡¯s oil minister told Bloomberg the group is pumping enough oil and producing more could hurt the market. According to a person familiar with the situation, the UAE hadn¡¯t consulted other OPEC+ members before the ambassador made his statement.
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