OPEC+ Member #UAE Says Group Should Boost Oil Output Faster - Bloomberg

OPEC+ Member UAE Says Group Should Boost Oil Output Faster - Bloomberg

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.

The UAE didn’t consult with other OPEC+ members before making the comments, according to a person familiar with the matter. And in the first sign that the proposal will meet resistance, Iraq’s oil minister said the group was already pumping enough.

Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry had no immediate response. But the statement looks likely to revive tensions between the two Gulf states, traditional allies that nevertheless fell into a bitter dispute last year.