Saudi Arabia under US pressure to increase oil output: views from the Kingdom's perspective
The US and the West would be deemed to have calculated and factored into facing pressure on the energy and oil prices in the run up to and escalation of Russia-Ukraine war, notwithstanding of course the war is seen as a clear aggression on Ukraine and violation of international laws. Of course Russia started the war in the normal traditional sense, and needs to be pushed back but at the same time the US-led west is in full swing in arming Ukrainians without accompanying effective pressure on Ukraine to sit down for ceasefire negotiations or peace talks, which seems to send the message that both sides and their co-sponsors are content with letting the war machine economy thrive, as far as the optics are concerned. Saudi Arabia, like other oil-exporting countries, first and foremost must maintain its “bread and butter” oil-dependent economy to feed its citizens and fund “once in a lifetime” radical shakeup of the institutional infrastructure as part of its Vision 2030, like the rest of the OPEC+ group countries, Saudi officials say. Domestic economic security and wellbeing of its citizens comes first. Saudi Arabia is already embroiled with spiralling domestic debt on never-ending projects as part of its Vision 2030, projects that are often pushed or persuaded by the west, often through western contractors and their western lobbying firms, facilitated by western governments so as to employ significant number of western (and of course American) companies. The 500bn dollar western-designed mega flagship projects such as NEOM city has to be paid for from somewhere and low oil prices wouldn't help, despite the Saudis confirming that it is in the interest of their bilateral security relations with the US that energy prices need to be both balanced and managed in the wider interests of both regional and global economy but after all, there has to be a floor to price falling in any case. The price cannot be pushed down infinitely, Saudi court officials say.
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