Politics

Saudi Arabia Reiterates That OPEC Decisions Are Not Political

Published

2 years ago

February 20, 2023

The OPEC+ alliance bases its decisions on oil market fundamentals, not on political bias, the energy minister of OPEC’s de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, said on Monday, reiterating previous comments from OPEC+ that it is looking at the markets when agreeing on oil production levels.

The decisions of the OPEC+ alliance, which is led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, are not politicized, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said at an event in Riyadh today, as carried by Reuters.

OPEC+ is flexible enough to adjust its production quotas if necessary, the Saudi minister said.

After agreeing last October to cut quotas by 2 million barrels per day (bpd) from November, multiple OPEC+ producers defended the group’s decision in a wave of statements in what looked like a coordinated response to U.S. criticism of the cut. The U.S. Administration warned that there would be some consequences for Saudi Arabia for its decision together with Russia to steer OPEC+ into the oil production cut.

More recently, delegates said earlier this month that OPEC+ doesn’t plan to change its oil production targets after Russia announced a cut in its output for March.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on February 10 that Russia would cut its oil production by 500,000 bpd in March as a result of the Western sanctions and the price cap on Russian crude oil.

A week earlier, OPEC+ kept its production targets unchanged in a widely expected ‘wait-and-see’ approach to supply just ahead of the EU ban on Russian diesel and other petroleum products.

One of OPEC’s largest and most influential members, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said earlier this month that declining oil production in many countries and the potential of insufficient crude supply would be a bigger problem for the oil market next year than how demand would evolve.

“I’m not worried about demand — what worries us is whether we are going to have enough supplies in the future,” the UAE’s Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei told Bloomberg TV last week.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

Tsvetana Paraskova

Tsvetana is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews.

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Politics

Saskatchewan NDP set to release full election platform

Published

4 days ago

October 11, 2024

Anne Joseph

Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck is expected to release her full election campaign platform today.

Beck is set to be in Saskatoon this morning.

Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe, meanwhile, has a scheduled stop in the village of Kenaston.

The Saskatchewan Party has not yet released its full platform.

Crime was a focus on the campaign trail Thursday, with Moe promising more powers for police and Beck attacking the Saskatchewan Party’s record.

The provincial election is on Oct. 28.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.

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Politics

Bloc leader, MPs and farmers call for supply management bill to be passed

Published

5 days ago

October 10, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet and MPs from several other parties were on Parliament Hill Thursday to call for the Senate to pass a Bloc bill on supply management.

The private member’s bill seeks to protect Canada’s supply management system during international trade negotiations.

The dairy, egg and poultry sectors are all supply managed, a system that regulates production levels, wholesale prices and trade.

Flanked by a large group of people representing supply-managed sectors, Blanchet commended the cross-party support at a time when he said federal institutions are at their most divided.

The Bloc has given the Liberals until Oct. 29 to pass two of its bills — the supply management bill and one that would boost old age security — or it will begin talks with other opposition parties to bring down the minority government.

The Liberals have already signalled they don’t plan to support the Bloc pension legislation, but Liberal ministers have spoken in support of supply management.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2024.

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Politics

Poilievre supports mandatory drug, psychiatric treatment for kids, prisoners

Published

5 days ago

October 10, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he’s in favour of mandatory, involuntary drug and psychiatric treatment for kids and prisoners who are found to be incapable of making decisions for themselves.

He said earlier this summer he was open to the idea, but needed to study the issue more closely.

His new position on the issue comes after the parents of a 13-year-old girl from B.C. testified at a parliamentary committee about her mental health struggles before her overdose death in an encampment of homeless people in Abbotsford, B.C.

They said their daughter was discharged from care despite their repeated attempts to keep her in treatment.

Poilievre says he’s still researching how mandatory treatment would work in the case of adults.

Compulsory mental health and addictions care is being contemplated or expanded in several provinces as communities struggle to cope with a countrywide overdose crisis.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2024.

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