Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir has said Saudi Arabia does not politicize oil and the shortage is not related to the fundamentals of crude oil supply and demand.
"Oil is not a weapon," al-Jubeir told Fox News. "It's not a fighter plane. It's not a tank. You can't shoot it. You can't do anything with it. We look at oil as a commodity and we look at oil as important to the global economy in which we have a huge stake.”
“The idea that Saudi Arabia would do this to harm the US or to be in any way politically involved is absolutely not correct at all,” he added.
The 13 members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and 11 of its allies led by Russia, known as OPEC+, agreed on Wednesday to lower their production by two million barrels per day.
Saudi Arabia said the reduction was necessary to respond to the West's interest rate hike and the weak global economy.
"With due respect, the reason you have high prices in the United States is because you have a refining shortage that has been in existence for more than 20 years," Jubeir told Fox News. "You haven't built refineries in decades."
Al-Jubeir ultimately asserted the Kingdom is "committed to ensuring stability in the oil markets to the benefit of consumers and producers."
