OPEC warns IEA on further undermining oil industry investments

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has called on the International Energy Agency (IEA) not to further undermine the oil industry investments.

OPEC Secretary-General, Haitham Al Ghais said this in a statement obtained in Abuja on Thursday while responding to the latest comments by the IEA again criticising OPEC and OPEC+.

Al Ghais said the finger pointing and misrepresenting OPEC and OPEC+ actions was counterproductive and blaming oil for inflation was erroneous and technically incorrect as there were many other factors causing inflation.

Al Ghais reiterated that OPEC and OPEC+ were not targeting oil prices, with the focus being solely on market fundamentals and enabling vital oil industry investments that the world desperately required.

“The IEA knows very well that there are a confluence of factors that impact markets. The knock-on effects of COVID-19, monetary policies, stock movements, algorithm trading, commodity trading advisors and SPR releases (coordinated or uncoordinated), geopolitics, among others.

“The finger pointing and misrepresenting OPEC and OPEC+ actions is counterproductive and blaming oil for inflation is erroneous and technically incorrect as there are many other factors causing inflation.

“Other energy markets have been far more volatile with oil markets less so, mainly due to the stabilising role of OPEC and the OPEC+ group,” he said.

He said that the IEA’s repeated calls to stop investing in oil could lead to future volatility.

According to him, it is known that all data-driven outlooks envisage the need for more of this precious commodity to fuel global economic growth and prosperity in the decades to come, especially in the developing world.