The current global geopolitical context is not helping to contain oil prices. Since the start of the Ukrainian crisis, the numerous economic sanctions against Russia have complicated the fuel and gas supply circuits for Europe and many other countries in the world. But is this Ukrainian crisis enough to explain all the difficulties currently encountered? Not according to Haitham Al Ghais, Secretary General of OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries).
For this communicator from the intergovernmental organization, it is above all the decisions taken by most countries since the start of the covid-19 crisis that explain the difficulties and the soaring prices of oil and fuel in the world. “Call your governments to account rather than OPEC, because they are the ones who did not want to invest in gas and oil,” he says. Following the severe economic slowdown at the start of 2020, refining and extraction capacities have been deliberately neglected by most governments. And when global economic activity finally resumed, these capacities were no longer sized to meet demand. Hence the surge in fuel prices, according to Haitham Al Ghais, despite numerous recommendations from OPEC.
How to do ?
However, in a context where the West as a whole wants to reduce the share of its consumption of fossil fuels, taking the decision to increase refining capacities and investments in this sector again is politically delicate. Investments in oil and gas have indeed increased by 10% in 2022 compared to 2021, but they remain lower than before covid-19. And it is also difficult to imagine that oil companies and other refiners do not take advantage of the situation to increase their margins as much as possible, under cover of an international crisis…
