Saudi Arabia’s leadership in the OPEC+ group of oil-producing nations “brought a kind of predictability and stability and caution to the market” as the global economy recovers from the pandemic in 2021, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian of the oil industry Daniel Yergin told Arab News‘ Frank Kane in an interview.
The Saudi-led OPEC+ group’s action in bolstering the market after April 2020 lows created “a contribution to this incredible strong global economic recovery that we’re seeing right now,” Yergin said.
“Let’s not forget, it’s only a little over a year ago when the appalling collapse [in oil markets] happened,” Yergin said. “Which was not only a shock for oil-producing and exporting countries, but you had countries like India and Japan, who were deeply concerned because they were fearful of the destruction, the undermining of the global oil industry and the gas industry on which their economies depend so heavily.”
The price of Brent crude has recovered to pre-pandemic levels after Saudi Arabia rallied other OPEC+ members to take expensive cuts in production to bring prices back from the bottom and eventually recover.
“OPEC+ has been a moderating force and a stabilizing force and really a mechanism for navigating a recovery from an appalling economic apocalypse,” Yergin said.
[Click here to read and watch the Daniel Yergin interview with Frank Kane of Arab News]
