Biden urges major G20 energy producing countries to increase production

The president of USA, Joe Biden, on Saturday urged the main energy-producing countries of the G20 with spare capacity to increase production to ensure a stronger global economic recovery, amid a broad effort to pressure the OPEC and its partners to increase the supply of oil.

With the rise in oil and gas prices, some producing countries such as Russia and Saudi Arabia have not boosted production enough to satisfy those who are largely consumers and concerned about the power shortage and the inflation.

The French President, Emmanuel Macron, echoed those concerns in an interview with the Financial Times and urged the leaders’ summit to push for better “price visibility and stability” to avoid undermining the post-war global economic recovery. pandemic.

The skyrocketing prices of natural gas, with the European benchmark rising nearly 600% this year, they have been boosted by low inventories and growing demand.

A senior US administration official said after the G20 session that energy-consuming nations had started discussing what they can do if OPEC and its partners don’t do more.

“We need to be able to talk privately with partners to think about what tools we have available to deal with this in case the OPEC + don’t step up and increase production, “the official told reporters in Rome.

To Russia, a major supplier of natural gas to Europe, and its energy giant Gazprom They are being asked to do more to lower prices on the spot market.

“This is a delicate time in the global economy, and the important thing is that global energy supplies keep pace with global energy demand,” another senior Biden administration official said before the meeting. “There are major power producers that have spare capacity and we are encouraging them to use it to ensure a stronger and more sustainable recovery around the world.”

That official claimed that the G20 leaders would not specifically target the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which includes Saudi Arabia, would not set targets for energy production.

The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, did not travel to Rome for the summit.