Saudi Arabia is raising oil prices for the United States once again, while lowering them throughout Europe, according to Markets Insider. OPEC+ recently slashed production quotas, which the White House said aligns the oil group with Russia.
Saudi Aramco hiked prices by $0.20 a barrel for all US grades, while northwest Europe and the Mediterranean saw declines. OPEC+ slashed its production quota by 2 million barrels per day yesterday. This goes in line with the White House’s accusation that OPEC+ is “aligning with Russia” after lowering its quota.
The implication that there is a political agenda behind the recent changes from OPEC+ is of course one that hasn’t been proven. However, according to the White House, “maintaining a global supply of energy is of paramount importance.” This further hinders the ongoing oil issues for the United States from Saudi Arabia.
European sanctions on Russian oil are coming later this year as well as a price cap on Moscow’s crude, which further adds to the potential political undertone behind OPEC+’s recent development.
“This is hugely political and a very clear signal of OPEC’s discontent regarding the price cap,” Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at Energy Aspects, told the Financial Times. “Regardless of whether the price cap is actually effective, they see this as a dangerous precedent.”