Earlier on Monday, Saudi Arabia issued a surprise announcement that it would voluntarily increase oil production cuts from June 1 by one million barrels per day.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said that Saudi Arabia wants to have a head start and that he sees signs of a gradual recovery of demand while countries are heading to ease restrictions on the movement imposed over the months The last to stop the spread of the Corona virus.
"We want to accelerate the process of returning to the normal situation ... The demand is increasing," he told Reuters in a telephone interview. We want to make sure that we help speed up the balance between supply and demand.
"We play an active role and encourage others to do the same," he added, adding that Riyadh's deepening of the cuts is not conditional or limited to us alone.
The drop in oil prices is putting pressure on the kingdom’s budget while global demand remains weak due to public isolation measures around the world aimed at containing the Corona virus.
Saudi Arabia said on Monday that it will raise the value-added tax three times as much and suspend the high cost of living for state employees in an austerity endeavor to counter the oil drop and the impact of the virus on the economy. p>
Prince Abdul Aziz said we are doing everything possible to manage our financial policy, including being wise to keep pace with this situation, and we are trying to move towards achieving stability in the market. p>
Last month, OPEC and its allies agreed, within the framework of what is known as the OPEC + group, to reduce production by 9.7 million barrels per day in May and June, which is Standard Production Reduction.
Asked whether the deeper cuts to Saudi Arabia, to which the UAE and Kuwait joined the pledge of further cuts, would continue beyond June, Prince Abdul Aziz declined to comment, But he was optimistic about the future of the market.
He said if things improve continuously as we hope, we will reduce (the cuts) to what is required of us under the agreement (OPEC + agreement), adding that it will be more than Amazed if the picture was not brighter by next OPEC + meeting in June.
Producers will relax restrictions ...
