Analysis: You still need us, #UAE tells U.S. as it flexes Gulf oil muscles | Reuters

Analysis: You still need us, UAE tells U.S. as it flexes Gulf oil muscles | Reuters

By single-handedly knocking 13% off rocketing oil prices on one day this week, the United Arab Emirates demonstrated the power Gulf producers wield in the market and sent a wake-up call to Washington to pay closer attention to its longtime allies.

OPEC heavyweights Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which both bear grudges against Washington, have snubbed U.S. pleas to use their spare output capacity to tame rampant crude prices which threaten global recession after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Wednesday's sharp oil price fall, the biggest one-day drop in almost two years, followed comments by the UAE ambassador to Washington, who said his country supported pumping more oil.

Prices rebounded when the UAE energy minister contradicted him and said the Gulf state stuck by an output pact agreed with OPEC+, which groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, including Russia. read more