There was nothing political about OPEC's production cut, UAE energy minister says

• There was nothing political about OPEC's decision to cut production or for the UAE's support for it, according to UAE's energy minister.
• The US has accused the cartel of siding with Russia amid the energy crisis, but the decision was based on market technicals, the minister said.

There was nothing political about OPEC cutting its production quota or the United Arab Emirates' support of that decision, according to the UAE energy minister.

The oil cartel based its decision on entirely on market fundamentals and not politics, Suhail Al Mazrouei said at a press briefing on Tuesday.

"UAE supported the technical decision of OPEC on the technical merits of that decision. And there is nothing political about that," he said.

Saudi Arabia's energy minister has also previously hinted a production cut was needed to address dysfunction in energy markets.

Oil markets were in turmoil after the cartel announced earlier this month that it slashed its production quota by 2 million barrels a day starting in November, a month before Europe's ban on Russian oil was set to fully kick in.

Because several OPEC members are already pumping below with quotas, the actual impact on global markets has been estimated to be about 1 million barrels a day, but it will still tighten supply significantly.

The US accused the cartel of siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin as Western powers try to impose a price cap on Moscow's oil to limit revenue that could be used for its war on Ukraine.

Indonesia's finance minister noted that the US-led plan to impose a price cap on Russian oil likely influenced OPEC's production cut. She noted that officials she's spoken to in Saudi Arabia were concerned that the price cap on oil could set a precedent for other commodities, which could hurt Saudi Arabia's exports in the future.