OPEC+ says growing risk of global recession justifies oil cuts

OPEC+ defended its controversial oil-production cuts, saying they were justified by the growing risk of a global recession.

The cartel agreed on Oct. 5 to reduce its collective crude-output target by two million barrels, sparking condemnation from consumers including the U.S., which accused it of aiding Russia’s war in Ukraine. But the decision was motivated purely by supply and demand, and the drop in prices since the meeting shows it was the right one, said United Arab Emirates Oil Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei. 

Oil ministers from Congo and Equatorial Guinea reiterated this defense, while OPEC’s top official said the group had little choice but to take preemptive action.  

The oil market faces “very real potential for a global recession, which some may say has already started,” OPEC Secretary-General Haitham Al-Ghais said at African Energy Week in Cape Town on Tuesday. “There was a consensus among the ministers regarding the need to act now and prevent a crisis later on.”