Saudi Arabia and Russia defy Trump’s calls for oil production boost
Saudi Arabia and Russia have defied Donald Trump's calls for an immediate production boost to reduce oil prices.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and non-Opec oil producers met on Sunday to discuss oil production quotas in the wake of US sanctions on Iran.
Opec's leader Saudi Arabia has moved to calm fears that oil prices will continue to rise due to production issues.
Read more: Trump slams Opec, urging oil cartel to 'get prices down now'
It comes after Brent crude oil rose to $80 per barrel leading to Trump urging the oil cartel to “get prices down”
Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih said he did “not influence prices” and that increased oil output wasn't necessary, at a meeting in Algeria on Sunday.
He said: “My information is that the markets are adequately supplied.
“I don't know any refiner in the world who is look for oil and is not able to get it.”
Russian energy minister Alexander Novak also dismissed Trump's assertions and said no immediate output increase necessary.
But he said the trade war between China and the US as well as Trump's sanctions on Iran were creating new challenges for oil markets.
Earlier this week Trump criticised Opec, urging the oil cartel to “get prices down now.”
He said: “We protect the countries of the Middle East, they would not be safe for very long without us, and yet they continue to push for higher and higher oil prices.
“We will remember. The Opec monopoly must get prices down now.”
Read more: Oil prices break $80 per barrel mark
White House sanctions are likely to have a dramatic impact on the world’s oil market, with Iran having exported roughly 2.5m bpd of crude and condensate this year, equivalent to around 2.5 per cent of global consumption.
Iranian oil minister Bijan Zanganeh, not in attendance, hit back at the US President ahead of the meeting and said his Tweet was “the biggest insult to US-friendly states and nations” in the Middle East.
Zanganeh urged the committee not to be affected by Trump's comments.