US President Donald Trump expressed hope at Riyadh's policies in the sector, urging Saudi Arabia to stop oil production cuts. Addressing the issue earlier, Trump repeatedly accused the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) of driving up oil prices and manipulating the market.
Hopefully, Saudi Arabia and OPEC will not be cutting oil production. Oil prices should be much lower based on supply!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 12 ноября 2018 г.
The OPEC states and several non-OPEC producers have teamed up in 2016 in a bid to stabilize dropping oil prices.
The cartel cut production by a total of 1.8 million barrels per day. The move brought Brent crude from slightly over $43 per barrel in 2016 to over $72 in 2018. However, US sanctions on the Iranian oil industry have pushed prices even higher, as the restrictions may remove over 2 million barrels of crude per day from the global market.