The comments indicate that consumers can expect little respite from the soaring energy cost. The UAE is the third-largest producer in OPEC and one of the few countries globally with the capacity to increase crude output significantly, yet it expects supply scarcity to worsen.
UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei said at a conference on Wednesday in Jordan that if we continue consuming, with the pace of consumption we have, we are nowhere near the peak because China is not back yet. China will come with more consumption.
Al-Mazrouei warned that without more investment across the globe, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies could not guarantee sufficient oil supplies as demand fully recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
Opening Oil Taps
Last week, the group agreed to open its oil taps a little faster in the summer months. That modest supply boost amounts to just 0.4% of global demand over July and August. After several months in which OPEC+ has struggled to hit its production targets.
Al Mazrouei said that we’re lagging by almost 2.6 million barrels a day, and that’s a lot.
Only Saudi Arabia and the UAE have significant volumes of idle production capacity. Still, even that is only enough to offset a portion of the supply gap created by sanctions on Russia.
According to Al Mazrouei, the situation is not very encouraging regarding the quantities we can bring.
