Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman delivered an hour-long masterclass in gaslighting after Thursday’s virtual meeting of ministers representing the OPEC+ group of oil producers. Arguing that the current energy crisis had been caused by decades of anti-oil policies, he tried to convince the world that it wasn’t producers’ job to help fix it.
The prince was defending the group’s decision to ignore requests from some of the world’s biggest oil consumers, including the U.S., Japan and India, for producers to open the taps wider in December to meet elevated demand. The fear is without more supply, rising energy prices will continue to feed inflation and choke off the global recovery.
The producers’ lack of interest in their customers’ concerns — they seemed more intent on breaking last month’s record for the shortest meeting ever than on having any serious discussion — should come as a wake-up call that, despite what Prince Abdulaziz would have you believe, OPEC+ exists to look after the interests of its members, nobody else. Countries can’t rely on the group to step up when needed.
This becomes all too clear if you consider how the energy minister approached his press conference. It was a remarkable exercise in how to avoid taking responsibility, with the key lessons being six-fold:
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