OPEC member and Minister for Mines and Hydrocarbons of Equatorial Guinea, Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima said cartels have always been looking forward to having a stable market to guarantee stable oil prices because its members also have economies that they manage.
As a result, he has called on world leaders to pursue peace and not act in ways that would trigger war.
According to him, wars bring disruptions in the world economies and cause a lot of havoc, citing the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia.
He made the call during an OPEC-Africa round table dialogue at the ongoing Africa Energy Week 2022 n Cape Town, South Africa.
The dialogue focused on the developments in the oil and gas sector, especially the energy transition and the impact of OPEC’s decision to cut supply by two million barrels of oil in November.
“There are two major events happening in the world today: the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the China-U.S. economic war. Africa is for peace, in the same way that OPEC is for peace. Even though some people say it is political the only thing the organisation and the members are doing is to have a stable market and this is something I did not understand until I joined OPEC. It is not about price. It is about a stable market. All of us have economies,” he stated.
“If you’re the Minister for Finance, you want to make sure that oil or the products from January to December have a little change in pricing. Why? Because you can plan better. But when you have a year in which the price can go up and down, you will have issues. So peace is very important,’’ he stated.
The ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia has disrupted world economies and caused food and fuel prices to rise, resulting in groaning across the world.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com